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Happy Fastnacht Day, everyone! Too bad I have no fastnachts to feast on.

Lilia was actually born on Fat Tuesday. It must have been late that year, or early this year.

I have been battling the flu (fever, chills, fever, chills, cough cough), since Friday. Lilia and Joe are next in line for getting it (they have cold symptoms, and that’s how it started for me).

I haven’t taken any pictures or done anything exciting in days. Hence, this is a boring post. Just didn’t want you to think I’d dropped off the face of the earth.

We skipped going to Smith Memorial Playhouse this morning because I am coming down with a cold. I don’t think it is coincidental that this cold arrived shortly after our visit to daycare!

I needed to pick up some books at the library– they’ve been on hold for almost 2 weeks. Instead of walking the few blocks in the cold rain, I drove. Yes, I drove to the library. I felt silly, but I also felt dry.

Lilia likes to play with the children’s computers, and I usually try to turn them off and pretend they aren’t working, but today, I let her look at Stellaluna, which was sweet and sad, and now Lilia knows all about bats and mangoes.

Joe has been encouraging Lilia to rhyme. One of the activities in National Geographic Little Kidsis to complete a rhyme:

Open it up and take a look. It’s time to read your favorite…

(choices are… a paint palette, a soccer ball, and a book) and

Scarves and hats and coats and mittens. Winter clothes are as soft as…

(lemon? pinwheel? kittens!) However, Lilia always answers CATS, so Joe rearranged the rhyme so she gets it right… Scarves and coats and mittens and hats…

I asked the librarian for some suggestions for rhyming books. She said that about 90% of the books in the children’s section rhyme, but only about 10% are any good at it– often they try to cram in too much or try to make things rhyme that shouldn’t rhyme. We came home with three rhyming books:

Sheep in a Shop (Cute rhyme, pictures are cute, but a little busy);

Under My Hood I Have a Hat (cute pictures, easy rhyme, winter theme);

One Ted Falls out of Bed (okay pictures, counting theme, annoying rhyme…in what accent does dolls rhyme with trolls? Please? I can’t stand a non-rhyming rhyme!)

We also brought home Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert, who also wrote Snowballs– one of the books Melissa sent Lilia for Christmas.
Here’s a picture of Lilia and her Grampop reading it on Christmas day:

Odd German Proverb:

Don’t point a naked finger at a clothed person.

(Please, tell me what that means!)

My left-hand ring finger has been naked since early fall. I have developed a horrible allergy to my rings! This happened when I was pregnant too, but about a week or so after I gave birth, I put the rings back on, and didn’t have a problem. Until this past fall. And noooo, I am not pregnant again.

I really like my rings. They aren’t gaudy or expensive. My engagement ring is a reproduction of an antique ring in white gold. It’s simple and sweet, with a little diamond (I am amazed at how small the diamond is, but then I look at my mother’s ring, and see that diamonds can be even smaller). We found the ring online at this store http://www.circa1930s.com/ but we drove to New Jersey to see it.

My wedding ring is a plain, matte white gold that matches my husband’s ring. We bought them years before our wedding at Henri David’s Halloween. Both rings are inscribed with a lyric from Kites Are Fun by The Free Design.

I want to be able to wear my rings again! When I wear them, the area that touches the rings turns bright red and horribly itchy. If I don’t take them off immediately, the redness spreads down my palm. When I do take them off, it takes at least a week for the itchy red rash to clear up.

I found this blog with some tips in the comments… says I could try boiling my rings? I may give it a shot– I don’t think it could hurt the rings, could it?

I have also thought about finding a nice ring made out of another material. Something that will not cause me any pain. Any suggestions?

I just did the balance ball tape. I will have to take some advil or my muscles will hurt.
My allergies have been bad. Not any worse than normal, just regular springtime bad, but I wanted to try natural remedies. I finally followed Dr. Weil’s advice and got Freeze-Dried Stinging Nettles. First day after I took them, my eyes didn’t burn, 2nd day they felt okay too. But within a few days, I was red and blotchy and itchy itchy itchy. Turns out you can be allergic to Stinging Nettles. I decided to go back on my zyrtec and singulair.

The hemorrhoid I have, or hemorrhoids, who knows, is getting WORSE. Ugh. It’s awful. I still sit on my donut, and sitting on the balance ball hurt. Blech. Oh well, I have had internal ones for so long, so bad that I had to have a colonoscopy before I was 30, so I guess this will be with me forever.

My hands are absolutely falling apart from holding Lili and nursing. Maria suggested that maybe I have tendinitis, and I think that is a possibility, because it’s much worse and in a slightly different place than what I call “carpal tunnel”. I think I have both. I don’t want to go to the doctor for it. I should get a referral to my chiropractor and go back to her for now. Not that she can help tendonitis.

Lili was born 10 weeks ago, and I’m still spotting. Not too bad, and I am thankful I am not like those of you who already got their periods!

I’m not sure what kinds of shirts to wear in public if I want to nurse Lili. The nursing shirts I have don’t work… the holes are not near the goods… I just wear regular shirts and lift up, but then my chubby stretchmarked belly is exposed. The nursing tanks don’t fit me… I tried the largest on at the Lactation Center. I’ve seen a suggestion of wearing a halter top around your waist, but I can’t imagine they make halter tops the size of my waist. I was thinking of trying the Bella Band but I’m not sure what the most inconspicuous color would be, or if that matters. I guess Black would be fine.

Anyway, I’m rambling. I’m gonna try and take a shower now!

Our pediatrician called with Lili’s MRI results and said that Lili is fine. No need to worry about this sacral cleft anymore, no need to follow up, we are DONE!

I don’t know if I have this right, but it sounds like the MRI showed that while whatever they were scanning (was it just her spine?) was not abnormal, it was not the usual normal… it was a variation on normal. I told this to Joe and he said, hey, that’s just like us… I don’t know what that means, but it made me laugh.

I’ll get a little more detail at Lili’s check-up on Saturday.

I will have to post about Lili’s Big Day! Actually, we’ve had quite a few big days in the last week… I think a picture post is needed, but as today was a big day for Mommy as well, I am too pooped to do this tonight.