Eczema Troubles

Advisory: this post is not sponsored by Neosporin, ha!  Although--if there are any Neosporin representatives out there willing to pay me for this wonderful advertising, I'll gladly accept! 

Okay, sweet Mavs has suffered from eczema since he was about 8 months old.  At the time I didn't know what it was, so I took a picture of this spot on his shoulder (there is also some spots going down his back).  When it grew to be the size of a half-dollar, and so perfectly round I was afraid it was ringworm or something.  A trip to the pediatrician we took.

Sort of off-topic story: Our pedi office waiting room is split into 2 sections, with the reception desk in the middle.  One side is the "well" side, and the other "sick".  That was the first time we had to sit on the "sick" side since we didn't know if it was contagious or not.  Sort of weird how you can feel all of the "well" patrons glare over to the "sick" creatures...ha!

Nothing against the doctor we saw (Mav's pedi wasn't in office that day), but she was so sure that it was a skin fungus like ringworm and not eczema (which completely freaked me out, eew!).  We were prescribed an anti-fungal cream...and nothing changed.  I am definitely not a doctor and can't imagine the pressure and responsibility of diagnosing ailments, so I was never upset about it.  Just wanted to make sure that next time we would see Mav's doc for sure.

In the meantime, Mav decided to bust his head open and take a trip to the ER.  The ER doc that fixed him up also said it was a fungus.

As soon as our regular doc glanced at it she said, "Yep. That's eczema." I proceeded to tell her that two other doctors had told us otherwise.  To which she kindly, but firmly smiled, "It's eczema."

Which, in the grand scheme of life is no big deal at all--just annoying.  Lots of babies get it and it goes away.  Our doc told us that Mav's will probably never fully go away since it's most likely genetic (Robbie has it pretty bad), and it will be an endless battle since there is no "cure"...just finding what helps soothe it.

This picture is when the patch on his face first appeared, and this is May 2011.  Thus the beginning of the epic battle, ha! 
What makes this patch so darn difficult to treat is that,
a) Mav drools a lot still (when does that stop?!), and
b) He scratches it ALL the time--even in his sleep.  His poor bedsheets always get ruined from it bleeding during the night.  We've tried bandaging it, but he picks at it anyways.

We've tried just about everything.  Prescription ointments. All the products at the store.  All the home remedies I could Google (even straight olive oil, ha!).  At the most it would sort of clear up for a day, and then go right back to its awful red, scaley, and often bleeding state.

The other day we saw a commercial for a new eczema skin care product from Neosporin.  Robbie and I turned and looked at each other excitedly after the commercial (dorks, right?) and went out the next day to buy it.  (The Neosporin Ad execs are loving this, I'm sure)

So I decided to do a fun "before and after" photo shoot.  Mostly because we were on vacation and I was excited to have some time on my hands, ha!  This was taken on 2/22 and his poor chin is bleeding.  He also gets flare-ups under his eyes/eyelids (specifically his right eye in this photo), but I'm too afraid to use anything there.

He also has some bad patches on his thumb, hands, wrists, and behind his knees.  This was also taken on 2/22.

We bought the trial size pack (with nifty coupons enclosed), but all 3 tubes are sold seperately as bigger quantities as well.  First is the body wash.  It says you can use it daily, but we don't give Mav a bath everyday because it's rough on his skin...maybe we could now?  It also says to not use a washcloth, just your hands.  I think it lathers quite well, and it has a very light almost sunscreen (but not really) smell...but it smells good.

Next is the moisturizing cream, and it is use as needed.  I typically don't use this all over, just on his rough patches.  I apply it first thing in the morning, as needed during the day, and bedtime (especially after bath). This is the good stuff.  Very moisturizing.  I can already tell I'm going to buy the bigger tube. :)

Lastly, the smallest tube is the anti-itch cream.  It says to not use it as frequently, it's for really big flare-ups.  I had to use it yesterday when Mav kept scratching his wrist.  As far as I can tell, it works great.  He stopped itching it, ha!

Honestly I was quite skeptic.  After trying a bazillion things, I didn't think this would work either.

This is after 3 days (2/26), and I used the same lighting. 
The packaging promises results after 3 days.  Whad'ya think?

I'm pretty excited!  I think we may have found what works for Mav!  His finger especially looks SO much better, and all the little spots on his hands, wrists, and knees are just about gone.  I know it will take a lot of patience with his face since it's in such a hard spot.  But there's hope that we can ease his itchies!

Let's hope that continual use will make it improve. :)

Out of the Woods

Well, we've made it through the worst!  Robbie is pretty much back to the land of the living and eating solid food again, ha!  Although he is sore from the traumatic night of puking--like he pulled a muscle or something.  (Sorry if TMI)  As I was typing this--my mom called to say that she has been up since 4 this morning sick with the same stomach bug.  Oh nooooo!  Another victim to add besides me, Mav, Robbie, my sister, and a few other friends I saw on FB with the same story.  Plus, while we were driving to the mall this morning we saw a lady pulled off the highway getting sick. (to which Robbie replied "I feel ya lady")  It's like living in one of those mass virus pandemic movies.  Eeek!

I spent all last night and today scrubbing everything down with Lysol and throwing anything that could fit into the washing machine.  I even opened some windows even though it was like 30 degrees.  There is just something necessary about airing out the house after being sick.  I know it's only February, but let's hope this is it for the rest of the year!

Oh yeah, here are the two photos I took on our date to the Fox.  I snapped this on our way in, we were in a hurry since it was about 10 minutes to show time.

This was the curtain before the show began.  Pretty great seats!  We lucked out that the two seats next to us didn't fill.  At intermission we scooted over for some wiggle room, especially since our tummies were getting worse by the hour.  I had grand ideas to take pictures of us and Jon & Jo (who scored some great seats, too!) all dressed up.  But by the end of the show we were more focused on getting home.  Besides being a fantastic performance, we happened to walk out of the side theatre door just as the cast was leaving--just a few feet from us.  Johanna congratulated "Maria", how fun! :)

Side note--I wonder where the cast was going?  They were leaving relatively quickly after the show...maybe to go eat?  There was another performance that night so maybe they only had a couple hours to spare.  Which makes me think about what life on a Broadway tour might be like...do they like hanging out with their castmates off set?  Really, do they have a choice?  How many cities have they been to?  How much do they get paid?  Must be a great life for the young and single, ha!
 

 
As expected, Mav did SUPER great staying the night with Nana and Papa last night.  I actually had to go over once (benefit of living so close!) to help Nana get Mav into the bath.  She said she wouldn't have made a fuss about getting him in the tub except he just had a huge diaper blowout (thank you remnants of stomach bug) and he really needed one after that. 

They made jello jigglers and camped out in the living room last night.  This morning they went to the airport where they've discovered a secret spot where you can actually watch airplanes land & take-off without a boarding pass. (I've been sworn to secrecy to its location...don't need the officials finding out!)

The funny thing was that they kept calling us to ask if they could keep him a little longer, ha!  After the airport they also went to the playground.  Which was a good thing because we were enjoying our trip to the mall we haven't visited in a while. :)  Well, Robbie sipped some soup at Bread Co while I went clothes shopping.

Mav actually threw a fit when it was time to go home with us.  You know, the limp noodle trick when you try to pick them up?  All was better once we got him strapped in his carseat and Nana and Papa gave him a fistbump.  Mav always needs a fistbump.

This is what he did almost as soon as we got home.  Sigh.  At least he's cute.

Scratch That

Nope.  Mav most definitely did not "just have some food disagree with him".  And he most definitely shared whatever bug he had with his parents.

Oh man.  It's been a rough 24 hours around here.

Of course it had to strike Robbie and I on the day we've been looking forward to for a long time--our date to go see West Side Story at the Fox.  We almost didn't go...but the agony of not being able to watch the performance, plus see the tickets go to waste was (at the time) worse than how we were feeling.  I took a couple pictures and if I get around to it, might upload them later.

Poor Robbie.  He has been hit the hardest.  He barely made it home from the Fox yesterday, and has been horizontal ever since.  Last night was super rough for him.

I coached myself as long as I could to not succumb to the puking, and put Mav to bed early.

And then had a pretty yucky night myself.

Alas, it is now morning and fortunately I'm feeling much, much better.  Which is good, otherwise Mav would be orphaned to the tv for the day.

Poor Robbie isn't any better as of press time.  I feel so awful for him, and have been praying that he gets better quickly.  It's awful being sick, even more awful being sick on vacation.

We had planned for Mav to stay overnight with his Nana and Papa tonight so that we could enjoy a night of going to the movies.  Mav is still going to his sleepover, but it looks like our plans will be to stay home and nurse Robbie back to health.

Motherhood is icky sometimes!

Last night was a rough night, so we took it easy today.  Not that we had anything extravagant planned.  And really, it was nice to chill at home for most of the day.

When we went to my parents' house for a BBQ to celebrate the first day of spring training (yes we are that big of fans, ha!) Mav was pretty much his usual self...but I could tell something was up.  He is still working on cutting all of his 2 year molars, so I figured that's what was bothering him.

Love that my dad printed these for their front door!

Mav started to fidget and generally look uncomfortable.  Poor little guy.  I wish he was just a little older so he could tell me what was hurting.  When I offered him ice cream and he turned it down, I knew there was something definitely wrong.


All baseball park menu: ball park hot dogs, brats, chili dogs, nachos with all the fixin's, and ice cream bars.

At bedtime I put him down in his bed, and he was OUT as soon as his head touched the pillow...and that never, ever, ever, happens.  He didn't have a fever, so I was stumped.  So I prayed for him and asked God to take away whatever was bothering him.  Maybe I should've been more specific, because he sure got rid of whatever was bothering him, ha! ;)

I guess it was about an hour after he went to bed that we heard him sort of stirring and whimpering over the monitor.  But he wasn't making any unusual noises, so we decided to wait and see if he would put himself back to sleep.  OF COURSE the one time we don't jump in there as soon as he makes a noise--he pukes ALL over the place.  Epic parenting fail.  I felt SO horrible about that, ugh!

Poor little Mavs had puke in his hair, all over his pajamas, all over his bed & pillows, etc, etc.  He was crying so hard, I felt sooooooo awful for him.  On top of feeling sick, I think he was scared by having to turn on all the lights and clean everything up.  And then on top of that, I just had to give him a quick bath.  There was no way I was letting him try to go back to sleep all yucky.

We finally got him all cleaned up, and calmed down.  Completely changed all the bed clothes.  Got him back to sleep...and he puked again.

Fortunately it wasn't as bad as the first episode and getting him back to bed was easier.  This time I camped out next to his bed with a bowl, towels, wipes, etc, ready.  I hardly slept a wink.  Every time he coughed I was ready to catch something.  My poor sweet baby.

I suppose we both ended up drifting off to a good sleep around 2 or 3am, and when he woke up around 7--you'd never know he was ever sick hours before.  He was in such a great mood!!  A few hours after that he was pulling out couch cushions to jump on like his normal self. And all his food was staying down. :)

We figured something just didn't sit well in his tummy, and probably wasn't a bug.  Just in case, we took it easy today.  Besides, I was so sleepy from being up all night, ha!

Bath time tonight was especially fun since Mav realized he could bring his map placemat with him.  Oh Mavs.  He loves his maps!  It is so cute to hear him pronounce all the countries he knows to locate.

One last thing.  You may have seen this picture I shared on Facebook.  I also blogged about it recently.  My high school friend, Katie, ran the Livestrong half-marathon in Austin, Texas this past weekend.  Her goal was to raise $500 for the foundation--and with a donation she offered to carry the name of a loved one to honor their memory, celebrate their victory, or encourage those who are currently battling with cancer.  I gave a small donation in Robbie's honor.  Huge praise to God for healing Robbie of his cancer, and the joy we have afterwards!

Katie met her fundraising goal and also did a fabulous job completing the race!  I thought it was so sweet that she wrote the names of people still battling with cancer on those 2 yellow Livestrong bracelets on her arm, so she could pray for them during her run.

Praying for the day when we don't need these types of fundraisers anymore!

Great Start

It's probably a good thing that I am horrible about blogging daily, because any time that I bring my camera with me for the day I take a gazillion pictures!  And our hard drive is almost full as it is, ha!  Today was my first full day of vacation, and it started out pretty ho-hum.  Robbie actually had to work one more day today, so it was just me and The Mav (to start).  Not knowing where we'd end up, I packed a bag for the day and set out.  We ended up having an awesome day!  Sorry for the picture overload.

Mav is finally starting to like wearing sunglasses and a hat, fun!  It's a good thing too, his hair is getting pretty crazy.

Although he prefers to wear his sunglasses like a stethoscope.  It's progress...  :)

Mav and I ended up down on Main Street to start.  It was actually rather chilly, but Mav didn't seem to mind.

He was pretty fascinated by all the bricks around town.  He kept saying, "Build it together?!"

 This is just because I love his squishy cheeks so much. :)

Checking on his shadow, you know--making sure it's still with him.

Mav literally had to try out every bench we passed.  Every bench.

Melt my heart! :)

My perspective all morning...so sweet!





"Fix it! Fix it!"

Saying howdy to Daniel Boone.



Mav was fascinated by those little sticker balls all morning.  Except he kept calling them pine cones, ha!  He loved stepping on them, then throwing them...which would often hit someone walking by...oops!



We walked by this building a few times, and every time Mav would stare at those little windows and call it a dog house.  Umm, okay?  Ha!

Another bench to sit on.  Except this time Mav spied a hidden treasure.

A tennis ball!!!

This is what the rest of our walk looked like.

The only way I could get him to keep walking, was to have him throw the ball to me and then I would lure him along. 

This was the last bench before we got back to our car.  I just love this picture, everything about it is so cute.  Just over my shoulder where Mav is looking, there was a photographer doing a maternity session with a couple.  The dad-to-be kept looking over at Mav with sort of a "longing smile" on his face.  I'd like to think that they probably have a boy on the way. :)

As I was driving back from our walk, my sister called to see if we wanted to hang.  Of course!  We ended up going out for chinese/sushi buffet, woo hoo!  As soon as you walk in, there is a big koi pond with all sorts of fascinating water wheels, floating marbles, clams with smoke, and trinkets tucked into small places.  Mav was in heaven!

The cuisine was pretty tasty!  I mostly enjoyed sushi, with a little bit of chicken and rice.  Okay, if you are the least bit squeamish--skip over this photo!! 

My father decided to try the octopus.  Yep.  Octopus.  Tentacles and all. (shudder!!)

I'm (sort of) used to the fried calamari Robbie eats because at least the breading sort of disguises it.  Watching my dad eat this was stomach churning.  Although, it was pretty funny when he held it above his lip as a mustache, ha!

Mav was already pretty fussy from being tired, so I didn't force him to eat something out of his comfort zone.  So he dined on pizza.  With chopsticks.

To the delight of Mav, the fun was not over yet!  We stopped by the playground after the Asian buffet.  Can you tell he was excited?!

This was the first time Mav rode the seesaw thingy.  He loved, loved, loved it!

He kept saying, "Up in the sky! Up in the sky!"

One of Mav's favorite things to do on the playground--the rings!

Mav loved being pushed by Grandpa!

Love this one. :)

And if ALL of that wasn't enough fun, we went back to Grandma & Grandpa's house where Grandpa took Mav outside to play soccer!  Mav had a blast!

Whew!  I'm exhausted from re-living it, ha!  Mav took a short nap during the car ride to pick Robbie up from work and then we went out shoe shopping for Robbie and I.  Besides walking/running throughout the entire mall trip, Mav also played in the indoor playground for a half hour.  No worries about getting his exercise today!

Needless to say, he was conked out right after his bath.

Not much on the agenda tomorrow.  (Although that is how today started, ha!)  Church and then I'm watching the Season 2 finale of Downton Abbey with my SIL and MIL in the evening--so exciting!!  And sad, since it will be a while until Season 3 airs.  There is a strict no talking rule while it's on...and there are no commercials...and it's 2 hours long!  I might need to write notes so I don't forget anything I want to say later. :)

Monday we're having a baseball park theme dinner with my parents to celebrate the first official day of spring training, woo hoo!

I love vacation!

On the Horizon

Every morning when I wake up to go to work, the sky is just a little bit lighter...and it is making me so very happy!  I miss spring and summer so much, and I love seeing the gradual swing back to long days of sunlight.

I wish I knew what kinds of birds chirp at dawn, but I've starting hearing them chirp in the morning too!  It's not very many yet, but they are on their way.

Do you know what other birds are on their way?  (corny segue, I know)

On Monday, our beloved Cardinals report to Spring Training!

Nothing can compare to the magical end to last year's season, but it is going to be awesome to watch our new team and new manager start fresh.  I don't want to brag or anything...but I did suggest Matheny for the newly opened manager position the day of TLR's announcement.  I think the Cards should just hire me to make all of their decisions. ;)

Opening Day is an official holiday here in St. Louis, and it is 57 days away!  I guess I should go ahead and request that afternoon off work...

Maverick had his first sucker on Valentine's Day.  He helped me pack some goodie bags for my kiddos at work, and that was his reward.  He actually put the stick-end in his mouth at first, ha!  I guess he figured it was a straw.

He did pretty good with it, and only managed to get gooey sugar slobber all over his shirt...and the floor, ha!  It was sort of my test run to see how still he would sit while eating it, because I've heard suckers can be great for getting kids to sit still while cutting their hair.  Not quite convinced it will work with Mav, he H-A-T-E-S getting his hair cut.

I'm also in a good mood because I have only 1 more day of work, and then I'm off for 9 days!!!  Robbie and I both have some vacation days to burn, so we (with Mav) are going on a mini-staycation all next week.  I'm happy that the forecast shows some good weather on the horizon...maybe we'll go to the zoo!
 

Working Mom Post

One of my favorite blogs to read, Kelly's Korner, is doing a "Show Us Your Life" link up for working moms to share their stories.  I don't know if I'll link up, but I have really been encouraged from reading the stories of other working moms.  Mostly, it is comforting to see how many moms out there are working moms of young children.  Sometimes I feel like I'm the only mom who has to balance running a household, raising my toddler, and all the demands of my job.  Which is silly, of course.


Mav decided to try to crawl in this entertainment center...with a bottle of sprinkles...

I think it's important to emphasize that whether you're a working mom, or a stay at home mom, ALL moms work SO hard and deserve praise!  I'm tired of reading articles that banter from both sides of the aisle about who has a more stressful day and which is the better parent.  Let's face it people: we're all Moms who need to be encouraged and celebrated!!!! (and we're all tired, ha!)  Why waste all that time and effort to tear each other down?!

Sometimes it's just not possible for moms to stay home with their children, and that's okay.  We're in that boat.  It's not like it's a question of cutting out pedicures, vacations, nice furniture, and designer clothes from the budget.  We need both incomes to make ends meet for our modest home, vehicle, and all life's necessities.  The greatest benefit of my job is that I can provide really great health, dental, and vision insurance to our family.  Having been without health insurance for a few years, it is a sigh of relief! :)

And sometimes moms choose to go back to work simply because they want to, and that's okay too.

The importance of it all, is that the best interest of the child is at heart.  The moments you have with your child, make them the best you can--and that can just be enjoying all the little things, loving and encouraging 'em to pieces. :)


Watching birds play in the snow!

I am so blessed with a job that allows me to be home with Maverick all day, except from 2-6pm.  (I work early, early morning hours before he is awake, too).  Sometimes I have to work longer hours.  Fortunately, that isn't too often.  I also have to use some home time to work on lesson plans, but that's not so bad either.

We are also incredibly blessed that my mom, and Robbie's mom take turns watching Mav in the afternoons.  So we don't have to pay for childcare.  Such a HUGE blessing!  And both our moms will tell you that it is their blessing to spend that time with Mav.  :)

I guess the irony of it all is that my job is in the childcare business, ha!  Mav will be old enough in the Fall to start attending the place I work...but we're still working on maybe being able to afford sending him a couple days a week.  It is such a wonderful school, and provides such a great environment for developing social skills and Kindergarten readiness.  (No, we don't get a discount.  Boo!)  Again, the irony just kills me.

On the flip side of it all--I love, love, love my job.  I can't be too specific due to legal restrictions...but I will say that I am in the Early Childhood and Elementary Education field.  I have a degree in Elementary Education and I love that I get to expand on it everyday...and then some!  My job has given me SO much knowledge about child development.  It is really cool that I get to work with children of all ability levels, and watch them grow. 

It's really great to learn about a teaching technique, lesson plan, or developmental intervention at work and then bring it home as mommy knowledge.  At the same time, I have a mommy's mindset when it comes to caring for the children at work.  They are so precious. :)

My life is filled with too many blessings to count!