(we had a) blizzzzzzzzard...

so, i'm a little late, but we had a blizzard on the night of february 1st.  it started innocently enough with talks of snow- but i got to work that monday night and you would've thought we were in georgia.  bread, milk and eggs were flying off the shelves- and this is in an area that has a gazillion plows.  people were straight actin' a fool.  tuesday was the day that we were expected to get the snow.  dave called around noon and said they would be getting out of work early.  he came home, we prepared dinner, put the little guy to bed and waited...

around 7 pm is when it really started snowing- the wind was blowing like crazy and definitely unlike anything i had seen before.  a couple friends from home had called to see what the weather was like.  we watched the news and things were getting bad out- people were without power, lake shore drive had been shut down, starbucks was closed.  around 10, dave & i decided to have a couple drinks, bundle up and head outside to see what was going on.

this is all you could see.  also, this picture might be turned the wrong direction.  i really can't tell.

this is what you wear when you drink margaritas before going out into the snow.  rain galoshes, socks, fuzzy socks, tights, athletic pants, a tank top, a tshirt, a long sleeve t-shirt, a hoodie, your husband's most hideous old hockey sweater, a scarf, a ridiculous hat, gloves and mittens..

me, standing by a snow drift.  notice the snow is almost up to my hip

pretty crazy stuff!  by the next morning, the snow had stopped, but a state of emergency was declared in many counties and towns.  roads were closed.  we probably got around 20" total.  yikes!  the damage...

these pictures were taken while standing in my front doorway.  i literally couldn't take one step out of the house.  the snow had drifted into the walkway.  it stayed this way until they came and cleared it out around 7pm.  

views of our backyard. the first is between the screen and sliding glass doors.  the second is the backyard.  just solid white.

the driveway.  snowdrifts surround my car.

looking out to the right of our house

they came to plow around 12:30- and when they plow, they just pile it as high as it'll go!

the front view of our house

deadly icicles that were hanging off the shared roof

family fun.

so, we all managed to make it.  this was fun for about 15 minutes and then i was ready for it to go away.  i  really couldn't care less about blizzards or snow for that matter.  i have the "i've seen it once" mentality now, and would take the mild georgia winters (that i always thought were so cold) any day of the week...  

what about you?  are you a fan of snow?

13 months

here's what went on for ian during his 13th month of life (january 20-february 20).

i've already talked about it before, but this month was hell.  the dr.'s visits, the er visit, a very unhappy, crying, screaming, mad-at-the-world little boy.  that was the story of this month.  it was no fun being one.  initially.

nursing is still going.  i'm really torn on whether to quit or keep going.  the bonding is great, but i want my body back (and i hear you drop 10 lbs, but who knows).  right now we're only doing it when he wakes in the morning and before lunch, and depending on the day when he wakes from his afternoon nap or before dinner.  so 2-3 times.  we're also only nursing at home, as his latest habits have made public nursing out of the question.

he is not a big fan of milk (which is crazy b\c i could drink a gallon a day if i had no self-control)- we've tried it at meals- cold or warm, and he's just not having it.  he is taking a bottle before bed though- i ran out of frozen bmilk, so we just switched to milk and used up what tiny amount of formula we had left- gradually reducing the formula and increasing the milk.  now, he will drink a warmed bottle of 2% milk before bed, but that's about it.  i am not too concerned.  he has a slight allergy from dairy.  plus he loves yogurt & cheese, so he's getting his fill.

on other foods- things are going the same.  i'll write more on this later.

ian is still saying "mama" "dada" "yeah" "uh oh" and has now added "hi" or "hey" "all done" and "no" (all these are rare).  he is a little giggle box now that he's not angry all the time.

swim class is going better.  there are still tears, and he wants his binky in the pool- but he seems to be liking it better.

i'm going to post pics now before i say too much considering it's time for me to post another one of these updates in just 10 days.. doh.

 there's a rumor a blizzard is coming, so they're making me wear this stupid suit...

yep, definitely a blizzard.  get me back inside.

me and mommy (or as one of her friends said, "look, snooki kidnapped your baby").  i was rocking those glasses long before snooks, btw.  and a family blizzard moment.

it takes the tub for-ev-er to fill up!

yay, finally in the bath!

13 months old!  this picture is sadly the best one.  someone doesn't like keeping still...

you know what's not fun?

teething. 

ian has 3-4 teeth coming in (2 top teeth have already broken through)!  want to put a cherry on top of the teething experience? 

get sick (not you- that would make it worse- baby).

ian has rsv (he got it on his birthday- symptoms take 4-6 days to show).  a baby in our group apparently had gotten it and was at group that thursday- their symptoms didn't show until the weekend, which is when they got their diagnosis.  he started coughing last monday and that was accompanied by a runny nose and feeling warm (although thermometer shows no fever).   saturday morning he coughed so much while nursing that he threw up everything he had just drank (poor, wasted milk).  that was enough for me, and we took him to the pediatrician (ever been on a saturday- holy s- when we arrived, there was 1 other child, but 5-6 came in- but when we left, there were 30 people in the waiting room!)  we saw our ped who seemed skeptical about whether he had rsv- and of course, ian hadn't coughed the entire time the doc was in the room.  i had to make something happen though- so i let ian drink water out of his sippy, and sure enough, the coughing began.  he did have the cough associated w\ rsv and 5 oz of weight loss.  right now, we just have to ride it out, as you  have to with most baby things.  that's that.  we're still sick.  we've missed a baby group outing, group itself and a swim class (that has been paid for- grr).  i'm not sure we'll make it out to anything this week either.  just hope my boy is better soon!

and on a final note.  we're supposed to have a blizzard.  projected 3-6" snow tonight (monday) with up to 20" starting on tuesday in the afternoon.  lovely.  can this southerner survive her first blizzard (ok, 2nd, i was around during the blizzard of '93) in the midwest.  photos to come, if i care to get out in it, or if it even happens.  i will probably be holed up with my margs either way!  people are making this out to be the snowpocalypse.  seriously. 

any tips for dealing with a sick witta guy (or girl)?

6 more weeks

of winter. And just to make sure we knew that he wasn't lying-- it's been snowing since midnight.

::sigh:: oh, to be back in Atlanta with an early spring