March and Erica = Rough

March 12 - I dislocate Erica's elbow and we end up at Urgent Care.

March 19 - She has a fever of 102.5.

March 22 - She goes to nursery on Sunday and cries for an hour and a half. Nothing is working to distract her. Finally, after hearing her cries all the way down the hall, I decide to pick her up a half hour early.

March 28 - I get the dreaded, but expected, phone call from the nursery leader asking for ideas on how to help Erica transition more smoothly. She admits that she is usually pretty good with distracting kids, but that nothing seemed to work for Erica. Trust me, I know. I wish I had an answer for her. Can someone please assure me that although their kid was a nightmare in nursery, they actually turned out to be really sweet. Someone? Anyone? Please!!!

March 30-31 - She comes down with a terrible cold. Her face is swollen, her nose is constantly running and she has a terrible, hacking cough. She even decided to wake up at 4:30 am this morning. Aaaah!!!

Hopefully, April brings better things.

Stay-cation

Instead of going on a hypothetical vacation, we ended up having a "stay"cation last week. You know you have chosen the right place to live when you would rather stay here than go on vacation anywhere (for under $500, of course). Troy spent quite a bit of time in the yard. His latest project is installing a gate between the backdoor and the pool.


Troy also surprised me with a girl's night out. My friend, Rachel, and I spent Friday night doing a dream night out. We started with a massage at Heavenly Feet (and it was heavenly)


Then we went to dinner at:

Normally, I don't like this restaurant, but this time I just had salad and breadsticks and splurged on dessert. The donut dessert is totally worth it.


Then we went to see:

I would probably give it a B-. It was confusing at first, but then came together in the end.

Finally, we spent the night at the Courtyard Marriott:

When we got back to the hotel, we had a dozen roses waiting for us.

Hmmm, let's see - Troy worked on a installing a gate and I got one of the greatest nights I've had since Erica was born. Who got the better end of this deal? Let's just say I am so grateful for a loving and considerate husband who treats me so well.

It's Official

I am a licensed, active attorney for California. Here's the quick story: When I graduated from law school, I still didn't know where we would end up. I had hopes of moving to California, so I took the California Bar in July 2004 and passed. However, I never got admitted to practice law because I didn't want to pay the annual fees if I wasn't living there.

Well, there is a 5 year limit after you pass the test, to take the admission's oath, otherwise you have to take the test again. There was no way I would ever do the California Bar again, so my family all headed down to UPS today and paid the notary $2 to swear me in. It was really quite informal, especially with Troy chasing Erica down the sidewalk while it happened. Here's the best picture we could get to remember this important day. I did get a donut, at least, to celebrate.


In other news, do you remember this great pool from the last two summers:


Well, it is amazing the things the Arizona sun will do to your possessions. It literally baked the rim of the pool and made it crack. Here is what's left:

We actually got a new, smaller pool for Erica. We'll get some pictures up soon when it is set up. Can't wait for summer and swimming. I'm freezing in this 60-70 degree weather. (:

Blooming Button

If you are like me, you have dreams of starting up your own business, but never really get around to it. Well, one of my college roommates can be an inspiration to us all. She recently opened up an etsy shop called, "The Blooming Button". Here is a sample of her creative talent:
You can check out more of these fantastic creations by clicking the link on the right or by visiting http://www.bloomingbutton.etsy.com/

Erica turned 18 months old on March 10th. We didn't do too much to celebrate, but I thought I would put up a few thoughts about her at this time in her life. This last month she seems to have grown up so much. She is really starting to mimic our words:


What Erica Says...........What Erica means
Te-Te.............................Cookie
Cookie.............................Circle
Bark-ee..........................Barney----one of her favorites
Bop.................................Baby Bop (also from Barney)
La-La-La.......................Elmo
(based on the song)
May May.......................Mailbox
Side................................Either inside or outside
Bean...............................Raisin
Wa-Wa..........................Water
Ka-Ka............................Color

Words she can actually say: bye-bye, milk, shoe, star, dada, mama, uh-oh, ow, bird, tutu, roo

Things she likes to do: play outside, go on walks, play with friends, color, play on the computer, watch Barney and Elmo, do shape puzzles or shape sorters, watch movies, eat cookies and marshmallows and peanuts, talk on webcam with grandparents, swing, play in rocks and read books.


She had the flu this week and threw up a whole bunch (including on mom's hair). But, that got her out of shots at her doctor's appointment.

Weight: 22.2 lbs (19%) - She was 23 lbs at urgent care last week when I dislocated her elbow. The flu seems to have caught up with her weight.

Height: 31 inches (29%) - Unfortunately, this percentage keeps dropping. I fear she has my genes for height.

Head: 48.5 cm (92%) - Wow!!!

In order for Erica to fall asleep, she likes to have a knit blanket. She puts her fingers through the holes and plays with it to soothe her. Hopefully, she outgrows this habit before the blanket is shredded to pieces.


Erica does not like to be on the ground while mom is in the kitchen. I put her up on the counter to keep her from pulling at my legs - a favorite habit of hers. She found a bag of chips while up there and seems quite pleased with herself.


My parents sent Erica an Easter basket. She was very excited about the princess pjs.

Now she is sick of me taking her picture. Notice Kayla lurking in the background? Whenever Erica is eating, the dog is not far away. Erica will sneak the dog treats when I am not looking.

When Erica is not sick, she is quite a lot of fun to be around. She is a little jokester and makes me laugh out loud a lot. She keeps me busy by moving from one activity to the next every few minutes. She loves to be outdoors, so I'm glad that we live in a warm place. She is constantly asking where her dada is during the day and immediately asks him to push her in the swing when he gets home. She is understanding quite a bit more and can follow simple instructions. She still takes one nap a day and sleeps pretty good at night. She tries most foods and eats pretty good. The only frustrating thing is that one day she will love something. So, the next day I will make up a whole bunch of it and she refuses to eat it. Just can't figure that one out yet. We signed her up for another round of gymnastics and she is already loving it. I am looking forward to doing some swimming with her this summer too. She has passed throught the, "I HATE bath" phase - thank goodness. I think bubble bath and bath crayons really helped. We love having her in our life and she truly is a joy (unless she is sick). (:

Vacation Hypothetical

If you had $500 to spend on a trip to anywhere you wanted to go, where would it be? (The rules of this hypothetical are that you actually have to spend it on a trip.)

I am the Worst...Mother

I feel terrible about the following experience and I am totally embarrassed to write it, but I am writing it down for Erica to read someday. Two days ago, Erica and I had just gotten home from the store. She has a tendency to run away from the front door when I want her to go in. After I unlocked the front door, I picked up the bags with one hand and Erica with the other and brought them both inside. I picked Erica up by her right arm with my hand around her forearm.

Well, she started throwing a fit. At first, I thought she was just mad I made her go inside, but none of the usual tricks were calming her down. She also kept holding the arm that I had used to pick her up. I remember hearing about kids shoulders popping out of joint easily at this age and I was worried I had just done that. I wasn't sure though because there was no popping sound or sudden movements when I picked her up.

It was just after 5pm so my doctor's office had already closed (of course). Instead, I called a nurse's line and she said I could have dislocated her arm or even broken it and that I needed to take her to the ER. I totally lost it at that point. I can't tell you how horrible it feels to have harmed your child to the point that you need to take her to the ER. When I called Troy, I could barely get the story out I was so upset.

The nearest ER was 40 minutes away. Plus, Troy wasn't home from work yet so he couldn't go with. I didn't want to drive that far with her arm hurting her. We had an urgent care about 15 minutes away, but I didn't know if they closed early or if they even treated children. I called the urgent care and they said to bring her in, but that I needed to get there before 6 to get an x-ray.

I bolted out of the house and arrived at 6:01. Too late for the x-ray, but it turns out I didn't need it anyway. However, the doctor came out within 30 seconds of my arrival and popped her elbow back into place. Within a few minutes, she was totally back to normal and it was if nothing had happened. When we met with the doctor, he said that her elbow had dislocated and it was very common at this age. If their arm is raised up and they move in a different direction, the elbow pops out of joint because her joints aren't fully developed. He said it was so common, they even have a name for it: Nursemaid's elbow.

I think Erica recovered from the experience quicker than I did. I still feel horrible about the whole thing and I'm so grateful she forgave me for causing her pain before we even got to urgent care. Poor little girl!!

Troy is the Greatest

Why I love this guy:

Troy has a proposal deadline coming up at work and he has been working non-stop for the last 2 weeks. I mean non-stop, as in his only break is when he sleeps at night. He usually has his 40 hours by Wednesday, but continues working long days through the weekend. I feel so bad for him, but there is not too much I can do.

He also feels bad for me because I don't get a break from Erica. I know I only have one kid and I know this is only temporary, but I just don't know how other women do this all the time. Despite all of Troy's work obligations, he still found the time to help me get a break.

Yesterday, he arranged a baby sitter and he made an appointment for me to get a professional massage. I've never paid for a massage before. I always thought they were way too expensive and I could never justify the cost. He found this place where you get an hour long massage for only $35. It was the greatest investment ever!!! I think everyone should treat themselves to one of these now and then. If you live in the Tucson area, I recommend "Heavenly Feet".

It gave me a much needed break and the whole time I kept thinking about how much I love Troy for doing this. Now I just have to come up with a way to help him out. Ideas?

In other news, I took my legal ethics test last Saturday. I will get my score in 5 weeks. Now it is time to start studying for the bar. My blogging is going to be slacking in the next few months while I study.

Erica turned a year and a half. She started going to nursery at church. I will do a post about her after her doctor's appointment next week.

P.S. Sonja, Troy is growing out a beard just for you. It should be much bushier by May 16.