What Is That Smell???

You know the smell when food has gone bad? You know what's really annoying? When you have smelled the smell for a week and can't figure out what it is. I have gone through all the obvious places, the fridge, the freezer, I ran the disposal over and over in case something was down there, and even checked in the trash can in case "somebody" (you know who you are) threw trash in there without noticing there was no bag. I have come up empty handed for the last week...until today. I was looking for some scissors in our junk drawer (okay I won't lie, at this point they are all junk drawers) and this horrid smell arose. It was like in cartoons when you see the stinky smell line rise up into the air. There was a cut onion in a plastic bag sitting in the drawer! It was covered in mold and some reddish/pink stuff that I was unable to identify. So gross. Now I know I did not put an onion in the drawer and I know Eric does not like to be within 10 feet of an onion so who the heck put it in there? I think this may be one of those mysteries that is just never solved. Oh well....

In Mac news, he is healing really well from his surgery. The day of the surgery we got up REALLY early and headed down to the Med Center. I was hoping he would go back to sleep since it was hours before he usually gets up, but of course not. He was wide awake and ready to party. He was in pretty good mood until about the time we went back to the pre op area. By then he was hungry and I think just had a feeling something was going on. They gave us the cutest little hospital gown for Mac, butt open and all. It probably would have seemed a lot cuter if they weren't about to cut on my kid. The nurse told us that the best thing to do was just kiss him good-bye, hand him over and walk away. I hugged him tight, kissed him and followed directions. I handled it better than I thought I would. Within 25 minutes they had paged us to come back and see Mac. Unfortunately as soon as we got into PACU I could hear him wailing. They had warned us that kids, especially younger kids, are often very upset when they wake up from surgery. If you've ever had surgery you know how disoriented you are following the procedure. Imagine not even knowing you were having something done and waking up to strangers who can't explain what's happening to you. It's got to be scary. I'd like to say that he calmed down as soon as he saw us, but he didn't. He cried for a decent amount of time, but once we got in the car and got on the road he fell asleep. After a good 2 hour nap (one for me too), he was up and not really pleased. They gave us liquid Vicodin and I really appreciate it. Not only did it provide some comic releif (Mac was a nut when we gave it to him), it knocked him out within 20 minutes of taking it. We had planned on letting him sleep in our room, in the pack and play, that night, but Mac wasn't having it. He wanted to be in our bed. I think that was the first time Mac ever slept with us the whole night and it won't be a common occurence. We got no sleep. The next day was not too bad. He was actually in pretty good mood until lunch time. Things went south after that and we had to give him a couple of doses of Vicodin by the time the day had ended. The swelling, stitches, and bleeding were not pleaseant to see the first 2 days, but by Sunday it looked so much better. Today it looks pretty normal (minus the stitches). I also learned something through this whole process...a sponge bath does not work for more than one day when you have a stinky little boy! He wasn't allowed to bathe for 3 days and by Monday I was desperate to get him in the tub. So the title of this post also fits in this section...but I can answer the question...the smell was Mac!

With all the drama and craziness that has happened this last month I don't know why I was surprised to find out that the whole part time job thing wasn't going to work. VERY long story short, the job I was promised back in December, was not the job I was asked to do when I went into meet with my supervisor. After thinking about what they were asking of me, and talking to Eric, I called the next day to tell them I just couldn't do it. I would have had to work every second Mac was asleep or in school and give up my weekends/time with Eric and Mac just to get to the minimum number of hours they wanted. It just wasn't worth it. Honestly, I am kind of glad. I love spending time with my Mac and there is such a short period of time I have before he will be in school so for now, I think it's best to wait on getting a job.

Today was another zoo day for Mac and his buddy Will. Mac was not all that into it today. We headed straight for the petting zoo (aka Big Goat World) but there was very little interest. I mean, I was disappointed there were no brushes for him to groom all the goats, so I can only imagine how he felt =). There is one goat there that is just a freak of nature. I'm sure it's a different breed of goat than the others or something but this thing is huge. And it's my favorite. I have named him Dwight and we are buddies. I don't even know if Dwight is a boy...I didn't bother to look, but the name just fits. Dwight loves to have his chin scratched and he makes this noise that I don't even know how to describe. I'm sure everyone there thinks I'm insane because I just sit there and scratch the goat and laugh, but hey...it makes me happy =)
And here was Mac about 2 minutes after we got in the car:
And just as a side note...tell me that Mac isn't a star athlete in the making:

Very Routine

I've heard that phrase quite a few times this week. Well, let me just tell you, when they are going to cut on your child the term"very routine" does not apply! As I've already mentioned, Mac has to be re circumcised and we scheduled the procedure for this Friday. I got call this morning and found out that we have to be at the surgery center at 6 am...ugh. The surgery should start at 7am and take around 30 minutes. I have a feeling that it will be the longest 30 minutes of my life. While I was going over all the pre op instructions with the nurse I asked her about pain medication and discomfort after the procedure. This has been my biggest fear about the whole thing. I just don't want to have Mac screaming and not be able to comfort him. She said that while he is under anesthesia they will give him a caudal block. Basically it will keep the groin area numb for a little while so he shouldn't be in any pain right when he wakes up. They will also give us a prescription for Vicodin in liquid form. She said a lot of kids don't even need it, but they like to send it home with the patient just in case. I asked if I should expect to have a little monster at home for a few days and she said that he probably won't be the happiest little guy, but by Monday he should be back to normal. He will have 4-5 dissovable stitches put in (yuck), but at least he won't have to have them removed.
I absolutely love the surgeon. He is the nicest guy and you almost feel like you're talking to your grandad. A lady in our Sunday school class had to have her son re circumcised a few years ago and she used the same surgeon. He has apparently been given the nickname the "King of Circumcision" because he does so many...I guess that's a good thing?
I already know what the worst part of this whole thing will be....handing him over to go into the OR. I know he's going to cry, and I know he's going to be scared, and I know there is nothing I can do to make it better. I hate that he's going to have this done, but I know it's better now than 10 years from now. I'm just ready for this to be done and have him back in my arms....

Yee-Haw!

Mac's last encounter with a farm animal did not go so well (see below).
In spite of this, we decided we would take him to the Rodeo. My sweet sweet husband took half a day off so that he could come with us, and we had a really great time! From the moment we arrived at the carnival entrance Mac's eyes were open wide. He got to have a few bites of Daddy's corndog (which he loved) and then we were off to see some animals. When we walked into the building and saw the tractors and booths ( and the smells, oh the smells), Mac was intrigued. I was interested to see how well he did once we got over to all the animals. We passed by all the cows first and he looked, but didn't really seem to care. Then came the pigs. Move over Heisman, Mac may have a new favorite animal! Most of the pigs/hogs/or whatever they are were laying in their pens with some body part hanging out (a nose, a tail, a leg) into the public walking way. We let Mac out of his stroller to take a look and I think he would have crawled in there if we would have let him. My theory is that most of the pigs were black and white, with flat noses, floppy ears, and snorting so I'm sure he thought they were simply supersized versions of his puppy. He kept trying to stick his hands through the bars to touch their noses.

So far so good. We decided that we would be really brave and take him to the petting zoo....and...he LOVED IT! He loved on some sheep, a few goats, a pot-belly pig, a deer, and a big old llama. I personally am not a fan of the llamas. They bite, they spit, and there are generally just unpleasant creatures in my opinion, so when I saw my son beating on a llamas back like he was playing with his puppy, I decided it would be best to move on to another animal. Mac tried to get a little kissing action in with a few of the animals but we were able to catch him right before the tongue came out.

One thing that I have never seen at the Rodeo is a "birthing area" for the sheep and pigs. It's over in the kids section which I thought was very strange. They had tv screens all around the area showing the anatomy of a cow and how the calf comes out ,etc., etc....Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with Mac seeing a live animal birth, but I am sure there are some people that would not appreciate that. I just see some kid looking over and being traumatized...oh well, I guess it's a natural part of life!
Now there is one rule I have about the Rodeo...you can't leave without having a Funnel Cake! Funnel Cake may be one of the most sinfully delicious food items in the world...and now you can get them with toppings/sauce. Eric wanted caramel so we compromised and he got it on the side. Mac was in heaven. Fistfuls of Funnel Cake being shoved into his mouth =)

And just as a side note...have you ever noticed that after you leave the Rodeo you smell like the Rodeo...you know what I mean...

Eric had to go out of town that night so Mac and I decided we would have a sleep over at Grandmama's house. She knows Mac loves measuring cups so when we got over there she had pulled out all of the cups for Mac to play with..and of course he had a blast. He was in such a great mood while we were over there. I mean, who wouldn't enjoy running around naked after a bath and playing with plastic cups?!?! The next morning was a different story. He was just cranky and clingy. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I took Grandmama to run some errands and while she was getting her hair done Mac and I decided to do a little shopping. When we got into Pier One I started smelling this rotten egg smell and realized it was probably Mac. I took him to the bathroom and I almost couldn't change him. His pants were sopping wet all the way down to his feet! He had a serious blow out and I had to step back for a minute before I could even start to clean him up. I had to go and buy the child some new clothes just so he had something to wear! I'm thinking that the Funnel Cake and Corndog did not sit well on that little tummy. And just to make it a little worse, he threw up in the car. A bottle of Pedialyte later he seems to be feeling fine today.
In other Mac news, I scheduled his "re-circumcision" for next Friday. The nurse said I won't get a surgery time until the day before, but they always schedule kids under 2 for the morning time slots. I can't imagine not letting Mac eat all day so that's good news. I'm not really that concerned about the procedure....I mean, having tubes put in requires a higher level of anesthesia than this will, but it's afterwards that worries me a little. There is no way this is going to feel good! I just hope they send him home with some meds to help out...I mean, OUCH!
And here's a random one...Mac eating a lemon...he likes them (despite the face)...

Long Days...

This has been the longest 2 weeks of my life. Mostly for reasons that I'm just not even going to get into, but lets just say time has never gone so slowly. Pop and Noni (my Dad and step-mom) kept Mac for us last night so we finally had a night to just rest and a morning to sleep in. So thanks for that!
We went to see Grandmama today after we picked up Mac and I think she is doing well. I cannot even begin to imagine the adjustment after being married to someone for 66 years. Eric is going to be out of town for a few days so Mac and I are going to just have a little sleep over at her house one night. I used to love sleeping on a palate in the floor at her house when I was little. Hopefully she'll let me sleep in a bed this time though =)
The weather was absolutely perfect today so while Eric worked in the yard, Mac and I played on the deck. I put on his swimsuit and busted out with the bubbles and a tupperware dish full of water...what more could a child ask for! He had a blast. Unfortunately I think that he is going to have his Daddy's coloring because after 5 minutes of sunshine, his little cheeks and ears were turning red, so we busted into the SPF 50.

Grandaddy

Yesterday was a sad day for my family. Around 5pm my sweet Grandaddy passed away. He lived a very happy and active life for 93 years and he will be missed. I think the thing I remember most about him is that from the time I was little, you could always find him sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bible. He was one of the Godliest men to walk this earth. He was a man who truly walked the walk everyday of his life. While we are all so sad to see him go, he is finally in a place where he is free of pain and able to do what he loved most in the world, praise God. Obviously, we wish we had more time with him, but I am just so glad that he where he deserves to be after years of faithfulness. I am just so thankful that he was able to meet Mac. I know that Mac will not remember him, but it means so much to me. We love you Grandaddy and you will never know the joy you brought to our lives...

Retraction

I'm printing a retraction to yesterday's post...night naps are back. Mac went to bed at 8 pm yesterday after not having is evening nap. Success, right? Nope. He just woke up at 9 and stayed up until 11 anyway. Oh well, guess we just have a night owl on our hands!

So Long....

I am sad to report that we have said a tearful "Good-bye" to Mac's night nap. Yes, it's true. My sadness stems from two things; first, it really has become one of the few times during the day that I can count on some cuddle time with Mac. The boy in him pretty much refuses to sit still anymore, but I know that a sippy cup of milk and comfy couch will get him to settle down for just a few precious moments of Mommy time. Second, it gives me an excuse to sit down too! I really am quite tired by the time 5pm rolls around after what seems like an 8 hour game of chase. It is just a nice 45 minutes or so of quiet, peacefulness in the Bethea home. Unfortunately I knew in my heart of hearts that it needed to end for quite sometime. Mac refuses to go to bed at a decent hour. Word on the street is that most kids his age head off to bed around 8 or 8:30pm if not earlier; my child is still up and ready to party until 11pm or later. Honestly, up to this point, not having him on a schedule has been great. We have been able to go see friends and not feel the rush to get home and get Mac in bed before he gets cranky, but now it's a whole other story. Eric and I are actually staying up later than we need to because Mac won't sleep.

All that to say, Good bye sweet night time nap. I will miss you...