Over the Past Week...

Wow, what a week we've had around our house.  William has been sick and any mother knows that when her baby is sick,  nothing else matters but getting baby better. 

William started running a low grade temp last Saturday.  He was cutting a new tooth, so I just assumed the temp and crankiness was due to that.  I was wrong.  On Sunday his fever began to rise to around 101 and at night rose to around 102.  I treated the fever with Tylenol, and planned on taking William to the doctor on Monday. 

Waiting to See the Doctor

I finally got in to see the doctor Monday around 11:30 and found out that William just had a virus.  The only thing we could do was treat the symptoms with Tylenol and ibuprofen.  The doctor tried to ease my concern about the fever by telling me that the fever would not hurt William.  I continued to follow the doctor's order, but unfortunately William just continued to get worse. 

On Monday night William's fever spiked to 104.2, and I freaked out.  I just held him and gave him more medicine and tried to remember everything the doctor had told me about a fever not harming him, even though it was really hard to do that.   

After talking with my sister (Jorja was experiencing the same symptoms but her fever had not gotten that high), we figured that since William's fever had spiked that he would probably start getting better now and the virus would start to leave his body.

Again I was wrong....

Valentines Day + Sick = No fun

Kool Strip on his forehead.  We were willing to
try anything. 

Happy Valentine's Day
Hunk-A-Burnin' Love

William ran a fever (between 101-102) all day on Tuesday.  He would not take a bottle, and he wouldn't eat much at all.   I called my doctor's office Wednesday morning to schedule for a recheck because I was seeing no improvement at all in my baby.  It was heartbreaking...

Unfortunately I could not get an appointment to see the doctor without a nurse first approving William's symptoms to see if they were severe enough to schedule an appointment with my doctor for a recheck. ...YES, I KNOW.  I THOUGHT IT WAS ABSURD TOO.   and of course, all the nurses were busy with patients so they would not schedule me an appointment..not even for the following day.

Several teachers that I work with have raved about Pediatrics East.   I called Pediatrics East off of Deer Foot Parkway and was able to pick a time to bring William in the following day to see Dr. Deitlan.  It was a wonderful experience, and we left with some answers.  William developed an ear infection and a pretty severe cough due to the virus.  The doctor called the name of the virus, but I'm not even going to attempt to spell it.  It was something that sounded like bronchitis though, but not bronchitis.  =)  We left the office with an antibiotic for his ear infection and an inhaler for his cough and congestion in his chest.  It was finally time to get my baby back on the mend! 

He is starting to finally act like himself again...smiling, happy, playful.  I'm so happy my William is feeling better and is rid of that nasty fever!

We've played all day today and tomorrow morning we will head back to daycare after being absent for a solid week!  I know William is missing all of his friends and daycare mommas! 

He fell asleep immediately after eating dinner. Precious!

He couldn't hold his head up

Sleepy head after a long day of playing

*I have to give a special "Thanks" to Amber Foster.  She is one of my childhood friends that is now a nurse practitioner in Georgia.  She was a lifesaver this week, especially when I could not get in to see my doctor.  She kept me calm and helped me know exactly what I needed to be doing to try and help William to be as comfortable as possible.  She also is the one who urged me to take William back to the doctor because his fever was too high and lasting too long for there not to be something more going on.  I'm so happy I listened to her!  Thank you Amber!  We Love You! 

*Thank you Gramsie and Maw-Maw for keeping William so I could work a few days this week!  I know you loved every minute of time with your grandbaby.

Step-By-Step

Today, William took 3 steps... All by himself!

Sweet, sweet little moment shared today between Mommy, Daddy, and William!

Too Cute Not To Share

Tuesday morning I had William all ready to head out to daycare.  He was in a great mood and so adorable in his itty-bitty man jeans and shoes.  I took a couple of pictures and just had to share . 

Let's Go Mommy!

I'm ready to play with my buddies at daycare!

Spaghetti Face

Finger-licking Good

This is my favorite meal...so far!

Put some more on my tray...now please =) 

Somebody has a mouthful!

I love my mommy's spaghetti!

Insert Noodles In Mouth 

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy in William's tummy!

Would you like some? 

Stuffed Full Of Spaghetti 

My Version of Extreme Couponing

Total amount (including tax) = 84.38
Manufacturer's coupons from Sunday paper and free online coupons - $15.64
CVS bonus bucks - $13.00
Actual cash I paid - $55.74
CVS bonus bucks I earned today - $17.00

Total = 38.74 for $84 worth of items. 

That's  pretty good in my book!

This was my third attempt at a coupon shopping trip. My first attempt wasn't impressive. I only had 2 coupons and my items weren't on sale. I saved .75 :).

My second attempt was total failure. I couldn't find half the items I was looking for on my list. I realized after 20 minutes of wondering around CVS, comparing my list to the sales paper, and then searching the shelves for the items that I looked like a fool!  I ended up leaving, very frustrated.

But today...  I was prepared, ready, determined, SUCCESSFUL! (and yes, I meant that to be as dramatic as possible)

It may not look like much, but there are two jumbo packs of diapers and a 3 pack of refill wipes. That in itself would normally cost between $25-28 (if not more). I paid $39 for ALL of it.

Now you may be wondering when in the world I found time to map this coupon trip out. I stayed up entirely too late Wednesday night analyzing the sale papers and finding my best deals.   I then paired my sale items with a coupon. Then I went online and found online coupons that were free.  I definitely won't be making a habit of this because I value my sleep!

However, I do plan to use more coupons in the future, but I  just don't have the time to search the deals out and all that jazz.  Maybe this summer I can dedicate more time to it.

Happy Couponing!

Oh So Fine At Nine Months

Will turned 9 months this past Saturday.  We spent the morning at Walmart stocking up on groceries and baby items.  The afternoon was dedicated to complete playtime with my little, big man.  That's right, my little-big man. Will had his 9 month appointment yesterday (Tuesday), and Dr. Hester was pleased with his growth!  William weighs 20 lbs, 11 ounces, and is 27 3/4 inches tall.  His head is 18 inches around.

Will is rocking 9 months with a total of 4 teeth, two on the top and two on the bottom.  The teething pain has been a little rough, but our new favorite baby item is teething tablets!  William loves them, and they seem to really help.

Will is not walking independently, but he can really go fast with the help of his baby push-walker.  He can stand by himself, but he's just scared to take that first step by himself.  I know walking is just around the corner though.

Will is eating more table foods now. He enjoys grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate pudding, sweet green peas, and spaghetti-o's!  I still incorporate his baby food fruits and vegetables into his meals too.  We only splurge with pudding or a grilled cheese maybe once a week.  We are trying more new things this week.  I've bought several of the Gerber toddler meals to see if he likes them. I've started trying to ween his bottles too. I'm starting slow, only replacing one of his daily bottles right now.  I've replaced his afternoon bottle with a sippy cup of his milk (formula).  I'm hoping he will start drinking the milk from his sippy cup, but right now he's not a fan.  This will be something that we have to work with for him to get use to. I may have to try a different style of cup.  Right now we use the nubby, but he only wants to chew on the nipple.  Any suggestions are welcome!

His sleeping schedule varies right now. Recently,  he has started waking up at least once or twice a night.  When I go into his room and pick him up, he will fall immediately asleep.  When I lay him back down in his crib, he will begin crying.  I've finally decided that he is experiencing some separation anxiety, and Dr. Hester agreed.  I feel like he is waking up in the night and looking for mommy and daddy.  It breaks my heart to hear him cry.  I've been reading on some techniques to ease the separation and work through this. He does not have these moments of crying in the mornings when I drop him off at daycare, and for that I am so very grateful!  I'm sure the waking up sporadically through the night is a combination of teething (which two more are on their way in) and "I want my mommy and daddy"!   It's been tough, but teething and separation-anxiety are just a part of this stage.  

Our doctor also suggested that we start trying to put Will down to sleep awake. It will force Will to learn how to comfort himself and fall back asleep.  I'm not sold on this yet, but I will definitely give this a try!

Overall, William is progressing right on track.  We love you William Tucker!