Ever feel like life gets in the way of your plans??!!!!!!??

Man, I really didn't mean to be so MIA! Things have just been a bit crazy (or should I say crazier) around here. My dad was sprung from the hospital on Friday evening. Saturday was just a day for bumming. Princess Bear (PB) had swimming lessons. I love it know that she's good enough for me not to be in the pool with her! The other moms & I sit around and gab! I wish the lessons were longer! She's really improving with her water skills which isn't very surprising since the child would live in the water if she could! Then on Saturday afternoon PB decided a nap was in order....ok! Twist my arm! The only problem is it seems as if I take a nap I'm up even later than usual so I was up & greeting 4am...ugh! Sunday was FOOTBALL! I swear the Bears don't even have to try to give a game away...they do it with ease! In the past year PB has really picked up a lot of sports "knowledge". It was very cute to watch her watching the football game. She was sitting on the window sill in my room (her favorite perch...don't ask me why!) watching and then yelling "GO GO GO RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN the ball!" Yes my job here is done! :)

Yesterday I was given a wonderful treat! My sister took my mom & I for manicures! Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It was so nice to be pampered! I used to be one of those people that had the most incredible looking nails that they were often mistaken for being fake. My best friend & I are both kind of nail junkies. I realized that one of the many things I gave up due to my depression was doing things for myself...make up, nails etc. I'm trying to get back in the swing of things. Maintaining natural nails takes a fair amount of work but I do love it so I think I'll give it a whirl again. It was also so nice to just get out and have some me time. Please bare in mind I was gone from PB for less than 2 hours (more like 1.5 hours). At one point she went into the kitchen and sat in the dark. My dad found her and asked her what she was doing. Gotta love this response "Missing my mommy" How stinking cute is that? Its also indicative of the fact that short of school the child and I are constantly together. Maybe not such a good thing. I'm going for our annual birthday lunch with my 3 best friends this Saturday...hopefully she will behave for my parents.

Then just to keep me on my toes Princess Bear decided it was time to have another reaction. I'm trying to cut back her baths to every other day as it gets cooler. We all suffer from extremely sensitive and dry skin in my family. She wanted lotion on so I handed her the lotion bottle. It was Jason brand. I bought this because it was paraben free, dye free & fragrance free. I'm getting really crazy about the paraben factor with her since she already has an endocrine problem (we go to St. Louis next week for the Dr appt...I'll fill you in when I know more). Since parabens can harm the endocrine system and have been tied to cancer I make sure that everything PB uses is paraben free. Dyes & fragrance haven't really ever bothered her but you never know so why risk it? Just more junk for the body to unnecessarily absorb. PB was merrily smearing herself with lotion...including her face. Insert the really big OH SH#T! Houston we've got a problem! PB's face turned bright, fire engine red. No where else on her little body did she have this reaction but her face was totally red and hot to the touch. I sent her to the bathroom to wash it off and called my sister to have her do a search on the Jason lotion I used (she's my partner in crime in the whole going green not exposing our kids to unnecessary chemicals) then I take PB in the kitchen for more Benedryl (she got 1 tsp for her allergies earlier but she can have up to 2 tsps for an allergic reaction). I then take her into my room so she can sleep and I can keep an eye on her. My mom is having a complete fit at this point so I agree to call the Dr just to calm her down. The nurse calls back and takes down all the info and tells me what to watch for (welts, labored breathing etc). Since PB randomly breaks out in hives this is pretty much standard procedure. I call Walgreen's to get a refill on PB's benedryl since we're almost out. I carry PB into the family room so my parents can monitor her while I drive to Walgreen's. My mom starts berating me on how I'm so stupid and how could I have done this. HELLO! Like I gave this lotion to my daughter so she's have a reaction?!!!? I actually said something to her and left for the drug store. When I got home she apologized but asked if I'd learned my lesson...ugh! Today PB is just fine and back to her I've never seen the light of day shade of pale instead of fire engine red. It wasn't such a good day at school...she lost 2 of 3 possible stars...we'll blame it on a crazy night! (If not I may go into my "When in the heck did kindergarten get so tough and what is wrong with these teachers" vent and that's best saved for another day!).