Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Don't think I've posted what Chloe is going to be for Halloween yet...

Guess you all will have to come back later tonight or tomorrow for pictures!

Update: I did get my hair done. Maybe I'll post pictures of it too. Got an allover Chestnut brown color (dark) with bright blonde and deep redish highlights. It's really not as bad as it seems. Unless you ask my mom... Or you're over 40 ;)

Teeth and Tax Returns.

I'm the type of person who feels bad for things VERY easily--even if it's not my fault, there was nothing I could have done about it, I had no control, etc. I hate when people get their feelings hurt or terrible things happen to them. I feel really, really bad. To the point where it's not really rational in my opinion.

Now this goes way beyond the typical, "oops, I did this on accident, I'm sorry" type thing. For example, most of you know that I work(ed) in public accounting. And I'm sure you know that many people don't manage their money well.

Well, I was doing the tax return for this particular wealthy family. By wealthy, I mean one of their W-2's alone showed over $2 million in salary. A lot of you might not realize that people with outside income are usually required to make estimated tax payments to the IRS, similar to having money withheld from your paycheck. If you don't do it, you'll end up owing penalties and interest. Every year we would advise this family to make the payments, every year they just wouldn't do it.

Every year this family would have to take out a new loan around April 15th to make their tax payment. And every year they would be surprised. Keep in mind they bring in over $2 million dollars in salary with just the husband. Every year.

This was kind of a running joke in my office, as last year they had to pay over $350,000 at tax time. I'm sure it would hurt anyone to have to make that payment to the IRS. My take was that they deserved it, as they should have been making the payments all year long. They KNEW they would owe a crap load of money. It's hard to feel bad for people like that.

Unless you are me. Unfortunately, I had to call the lady and tell her. I was not counting on this. It was funny until I found out I had to be the bearer of the bad news. So I call this lady and she totally freaks out on me. Like it was my fault!!! I tried to come up with a bright side to the situation, but couldn't really think of anything. I thought about pointing out that if they owed that much, it meant that they made a LOT of money, which is good in my opinion. But I didn't think that would help at that point.

I kind of joke about this, but I felt so bad making this phone call and right after that I was just about in tears. I had to leave my desk and take a walk around the block. And I felt sick to my stomach for the rest of the day. And it wouldn't have irritated me so much if I had a reason to feel bad. But really, I didn't. It was the people's own fault.

Ok--that example went on a little longer than I expected, but you get the point. I don't know if it's a girl thing, or a mom thing, or what, but it seems like here in the last year I've gotten a whole lot more emotional.

It used to be that I could watch the news and nothing would really phase me. Now, everytime I see a sad or tragic story, I automatically imagine what I would feel like if that was me in that situation. And I feel really, really bad. I can't even watch the news anymore it seems like. It's like everything is a lot more real and closer to home.

So where am I going with this...Chloe.

As you've seen in a recent post, she hasn't been feeling well. Well, this weekend I go to get some paper out of her mouth and what do I feel??? Teeth. She doesn't really let me get inside her mouth much, and I think it's gross anyway, so I don't push, but I know for sure I felt teeth. You can't see them yet, but the very top of them have erupted out of the gums. And I could be wrong, but it seems to me like two are coming at the same time, both on the bottom.

Well, she is so miserable. She doesn't sleep and cries a lot of the time, which most of you know really isn't her personality. She wakes up a lot more than normal at night, and she's crying. Not just a normal cry, but the kind of cry where you KNOW that she's in a lot of pain. A LOT. And she just wants me to hold her and not put her down. It's so pathetic. And of course I'm crying with her because I feel so bad that there's nothing that I can do for her. And I think of the fact that she is too young to really understand what's going on. All she knows is that her days are normally fun and happy, then out of nowhere she is in terrible, terrible pain that won't stop. I can't tell you much I hate seeing it. My heart hurts for her and I just want to take away all her pain. I always apologize to her, like it's my fault or something.

I try to put things in perspective by telling myself that all babies go through this type of thing, that its a part of life that all babies live through. And I know that's true, but unfortunately it doesn't make me feel any better. Not at all.

It's funny because the way I'm writing about this, you would think she has some super serious pain filled disorder that will plague her for the rest of her life, when in fact she's just teething. And the worst part is that I think about how this is just the beginning. I'm know there will be tons of times when she gets hurt and there will be nothing I can do about it. I almost feel like I feel worse about things than Chloe does! So I need to toughen up.

On the bright side:

CHLOE IS GETTING TEETH FINALLY!!!!

Pictures!!!

She likes to chase after the camera, so it's hard to get pictures of her now... :)

The box is her new favorite toy of the moment....


I just love this little outfit...my mom says she looks like a little boy in it...Poor Bella!

I REALLY just love this outfit!

Big Yawn... (And as a disclaimer, I'm in the middle of trying to dry my hair. This is how our morning routine goes. I get out of the shower, sit down, turn on Christmas music, and we dry my hair together... :) )

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I am very upset right now.

Chloe had a bad night last night. She was very congested and fussy. As most of you know, she still gets up usually at least three times a night for a bottle. Usually 11ish, 1ish and 4ish. Then she wakes up between 6-7am.

Well, last night sucked. She was up every 30-45 minutes. The child couldn't breathe and was miserable. She didn't even want to eat, she just wanted to be held. I tried using some saline in her little nose, but it didn't seem to help much. She'd go back to sleep and then wake up again a half hour later...

So this morning I gave her some infants tylenol cold medicine. The bottle was almost out so I thought I would go to the store during my lunch and get some more.

Well, to my surprise, I can't. Apparently the FDA has recommended that cold or cough medicine not be given to children under 2. So nothing for a runny nose, congestion, coughing, sneezing, anything. I'm thinking...this can't be right, I'm going to call her pediatrician to confirm.

So I call the pediatrician and this is in fact true. No over the counter cold/cough medicine can be sold.

So what does the nurse recommend I do to alleviate the misery that my child is going through??? Glad you asked. I was given three suggestions:

1-Take a steam shower with her. "The steam should clear up some of the congestion." Ok, lets think about this. First, how long does steam ever actually relieve congestion? For about two minutes after you take it away??? Second, how hot do I have to make the shower in order for it to sufficiently fill up with steam? I'm thinking that after that I won't have to worry about it, as I'll be dealing with third degree burns, as I don't have the luxury of having an actual steam shower.

2- Have her sleep sitting up or standing. Maybe this is cool for some babies, but mine is not one of them. She lays down or she doesn't go to sleep. She doesn't stay asleep for that long in her car seat or anything. She suggested that I elevate part of her crib and that might help. Well, if you've seen Chloe sleep, she's all over the place. She actually crawls around in her sleep.

3- Do nothing. I could take off of work to bring her in to the doctor Friday to prove that she is in fact congested, at which point, they might or might not prescribe something.

Those are my options.

Now why are things like this? Apparently there's a risk of infants overdosing on cold medicine if the manufacturers directions aren't followed. Isn't that the case on any medication???

My prediction???

1 - Many parents aren't going to be able to take off work anytime their child has a cold or stuffy nose. They either don't have the time, can't afford it, etc. It's going to take even longer to get in to the doctor because there are going to be so many "emergency cold" appointments fitted in between already scheduled appointments.

2 - Children will go untreated.

3 - There will be more over doses because those parent's who can't afford to take off work will start using children's cold medicine for their infants and self dosing.

So am I over reacting here???

Here we go...

So Chloe has an attitude. I think that we might be seeing some temper tantrams here real shortly.

Last week I was out of town--Las Vegas. Had a great time. But I was gone from Saturday until Wednesday and I really missed my little Chloe... (I am pleased to add that she was VERY excited to see me, she didn't forget about me:) )

Well, on Wednesday she also learned that she could express herself a little more than she was used to. How you ask? She has learned that she can talk. Now I'm not going to be one of those parents that pretend like my baby girl has suddenly become a big talker. Her word of choice is "da da da da da da da". This is the only sound she really makes. And it doesn't mean any specific thing, rather it's her word for everything. There are many variations of this word for her, all depending on her tone. I thought it was pretty cute...at first.

So I get home in the afternoon and go to take her home from my mom's. I believe that I've written before how Chloe HATES the car seat. Well, she hadn't finished a bottle, so I let her have it on the drive home. As we are driving, I hear "da da da da". Looking back, I realize she doesn't have her bottle, so I reach back, grab the bottle, and give it back to her (all while keeping my eyes on the road). All is well, for a few seconds, until I hear a slightly more agitated "da da da da". I look back again, and again, no bottle. I am coming up on a stop sign, so I reach back again, turn and look at her, and then put the bottle in her mouth. And here is what I witness next: Chloe takes the bottle out of her mouth, THROWS it, turns her head to look at me, and screams (not cries, actually screams) "DA DA DA DA DA!!!!" with the absolute most hateful look I've ever seen on her face! I couldn't believe it!

So I told her that she better stop or her face would stick that way. I went ahead and didn't give her bottle back to her again. When I got home, I took her out of her car seat and then she was just as cute as can be. I think the car seat possesses her:)

Some Pictures...

This is who I entrust my child too while I am at work.... :)

Sidebar: Notice the cute shoes!

Awww....such a cutie!