Empty-nest syndrome. WAAAHHH!

Where have all our babies gone?? Two of our little birdies have decided that they are big enough, smart enough, and know much more than any of us (thank you very much) and are ready for the wide, wide world.

Yep. Two of the four baby birds have left the nest and (supposedly) learned how to fly. The first one left yesterday. We looked outside after supper and only saw 3 beaks. A quick look on the ground showed us this:



He stayed there for quite some time. Momma bird would fly in occasionally and hop on the ground chirping at him. Before we went to bed, he was nowhere to be found.

The second one left today. We never saw him on the ground, but he's also nowhere to be found either. That leaves two in the nest.

But momma bird will push them out soon. Jim said he saw the momma bird in the yard chirping at the two remaining in the nest. I guess one needs to get a job and the other needs to go back to college. She must be tired of picking up after them and finding worms for them.

I'm still so amazed that we got to witness these events take place right outside our front window! I was watering the tomato plants last night in the backyard and noticed that the gutters on the back of the house have the same bend as the ones in the front. (well, duh...) So why didn't the bird make a nest in the backyard away from the main road? Where it was more secluded. Or in our lovely sugar maple tree. I still think God put those birds out front for us and the girls. The girls have gotten a wonderful nature lesson and have loved seeing the birds every day. It'll be sad to have them gone. But it feels good knowing that by having our house here (in a lot that was my 4th choice), we've managed to help out some of God's creatures.

My peeps!

Have I posted about the birds we have at our house? I'm not sure I have.

We have a bird, a robin, who made a nest in the crook of our gutter. It might not be a tree, but it's a very well-protected space. It stayed put through a storm and there are no natural enemies lurking on shingled roofs waiting to attack.

So.......one day I climbed up a ladder and looked into the nest. Here is what I saw:



Yep! Four pretty blue eggs!

Well, on Thursday, they hatched! We've got babies! All 4 of them made it. The momma bird is very protective. She will fly away when we go out the front door, but she only flies to the next yard. One time she waited on the roof. The girls have been able to watch her bring worms to each of her baby birds. I have no idea where she finds these worms, but she always seems to bring back one for each baby.

Here is a picture of her feeding her babies:


Here are the babies sleeping:




These birds have been very educational for the girls. I haven't put them on the ladder to look, but I would take a picture and then show them the picture. They were so excited when the eggs hatched! Beta knew just how it happened. She said the momma bird just started jumping up and down on those eggs so much that they cracked! That's how the baby birds got out! Alpha, who is about to finish kindergarten this week, has learned in school that the birds have an "egg tooth" or something like that, to peck their way out.

What's interesting is that I think God sent those birds there. See, in our previous house, we had a park-like backyard. There were tons of birds, squirrels, a chipmunk, and even the occasional rabbit. I loved it! Now we live in a new subdivision where everything is flat and treeless. Barren. It's the middle of a field. I hate it. I had some real issues when we moved here about moving into a place so boring. (and about moving in general, but that's a long story.) So, by having a bird build a nest on our house, right outside our front window no less, I think that's God's way of saying "it's ok. I'm here for you."

Isn't that neat? God does work in mysterious ways.

Shouldn't this guy know better?

I couldn't believe it when I read it! I was reading my Manic Mommies blog this morning when I ran across one of their posts about the pediatrician they have on sometimes. Apparently, "Dr. Rob", the pediatrician who comes on occasionally to answer listener questions, was outed as "Flea" - a blogger who wrote about his upcoming malpractice suit. You can read the outing article if you want to.

(Update: Well, apparently after reading this more than once, The Boston Globe wants you to register and login. I guess I don't blame them. I don't know if the link will work or not.)

How can this guy be so dumb? Did he not think someone would catch on to him? He wrote about the plaintiffs, the jury, the legal system, etc. And apparently it wasn't very flattering. The plaintiff's attorney outed him in court. Everyone then decided to settle the case for a huge sum of money.

What gives? Why do people think email and blogs are so private? Heck, by their very nature, blogs are NOT AT ALL private! The whole point is to get people everywhere to read them! Just because you use a pseudonym doesn't mean you're protected. Especially when the facts of the case you're writing about eerily mirror the facts of the case you are charged with.

That's why, dear friends, I write about "The Little Things". No major revelations here. Prospective employers will sometimes google you to see what's out there. I don't need them finding my blog and a long list of "red flags" and reasons not to hire me. Not that there are any.....I'm just sayin'........ Haha!

In the meantime, don't be like this guy!

Garden update

We've got tomatoes! Cherry tomatoes! Little green ones on the vine. I'm hoping the birds we're trying to attract to our yard don't find them. I'm trying to keep the bird seed on the sugar maple that's in the opposite part of the yard from the garden.

Here is a picture of our little tommy toes!



There is also one very tiny tomato on the bigger "celebrity" plant. I put miracle grow on them the other day so hopefully that will help us have TONS of tomatoes!

Update

Well, we are not. Well, that is. After Beta had strep throat, I got it. Yep. Sore throat and a rash. I haven't had a rash in who knows how long! So I'm on antibiotics as well. Alpha's throat hurts, but her temp is staying below 100. She even gets up and runs around playing. I guess she's not horribly sick then. Although her dance recital is this Saturday and I'm worried she'll be extremely sick for it.

The Friday of Memorial Day weekend, Beta was lying on the couch and wouldn't get up. Her temp was 103.5! Back to the doctor we went. All they could guess was that the first round of antibiotics didn't work. So now we're on a second. They seem to be working, but now she's coughing.

I AM SO SICK OF EVERYONE BEING SICK!!!!!

I went and bought the girls new toothbrushes, new toothpaste, and more disposable cups. I'm using a separate towel to dry my hands on. I'm tired of spreading germs! Maybe as it gets to be summer, we'll all get healthy. At least it waited until after tax season!

Expect the unexpected

You just never know what life is going to throw at you.

This past Saturday, Beta got sick. Again. She'd already had strep throat earlier in the week. She was on antibiotics for that and was doing fine. Well, Saturday, her temp is 99.6 and she's lying on the couch with her blanket sucking her thumb. She did that pretty much all day until supper time.
Anyway, when we got home with our Sonic supper she didn't even touch the tater tots or the ice cream. She wanted oranges, M&Ms, and lemonade. She also said her stomach was hurting. (Yea, I know. That's exactly what I'd eat if I had a stomach ache.) After supper, her stomach started hurting BAD. She was holding it, writhing in pain, and crying. I was afraid that she was having this stomach virus that I had had Friday morning. (No details.....TMI!) I gave her half an immodium and hoped that would help. She fell asleep for about 45 minutes.

When she woke up, her stomach was much better, but then I realized she was breathing funny. Her breathing was really shallow and labored. I figured it was just from her crying so I just watched her. I got the girls in bed about 9:30. Then (and this was not smart) I decided to stay up late watching TV. I don't get to do that since I get up at 5:30 to get ready for work. Beta came into my room twice between 9:30 and midnight. At midnight, I thought about putting her in my bed so I could watch her during the night. For some reason, her breathing just concerned me.

After about 15 minutes, I was really concerned. So I called the after hours line. It took two calls and about 15 minutes before someone responded, but when this nurse called me back, she asked if Beta's stomach was caving in under her ribs. I looked and sure enough, it was. She then said Beta needed to be seen "immediately". AAACCCKKK! I go and throw on some clothes (I was in pajamas.) Getting Alpha, my VERY deep sleeper, awake and into the car was a chore, but I did it. I told her she was going to have to wake up b/c I could NOT carry her.

On our way to the emergency room, I really thought we'd only be there a couple of hours. Boy was I wrong! We arrived around 1am. They gave Beta two breathing treatments with Albuterol and some steroids. She also had a chest x-ray. All this took until around 5am. By this time, her breathing was still labored. She was breathing around 30 times a minute. They said for a 3 year old, she should be breathing around 20 times a minute. Her oxygen level was also low. Since the medicine hadn't worked, it was recommended that we be admitted.

ADMITTED! TO THE HOSPITAL!!!!! Suddenly, I get very concerned. I really thought they'd just give us some medicine and send us home. The doctor said kids can get better really quick or worse really quick. He had asked how far away we lived.

About this time, 3 trauma patients come in. So it took us about an hour to get into a room. When we did, I put both girls in the bed, one at each end, I took the most uncomfortable bed chair known to man, and we all fell asleep. This was 6:30am Sunday. That was the first time I had been to sleep since 6:45 am Saturday morning when the girls woke me up at their regular time.

Thankfully, I had had a chance to call mom so she got there about 7:30. Beta was SO happy to see "grandmudder". Breakfast was also delivered so we finally got to eat.

Beta had more of the albuterol treatment and the steroids finally kicked in. We were finally discharged around 1pm. TWELVE HOURS after we had arrived! We were sent home with a steroid prescription and an inhaler. Beta takes the inhaler ok as long as SHE gets to squirt the stuff and SHE is ready for it. Everything has to be on her terms.

She did do better last night. I was incredibly worried, though, so we set up our inflatable mattress in her room and I slept there. Her breathing was still faster than normal, but her stomach wasn't contracting as much. This morning she seems nearly well. She's still coughing and sounding horrible occassionally.

Her diagnosis right now is undetermined. The pediatrician said it was probably an allergic reaction that had asthmatic symptoms. He doesn't think it's asthma because she has no risk factors for asthma. He said we may never know what she's allergic to. We just have to wait and see if it happens again. Then we might be able to pin down the culprit. Or maybe I could have more allergy testing done. For now, we are treating her symptoms and they are going away. So we're good. And thankful. And still a little scared. But this morning, before Alpha went to school, they both started fighting over toys again. So maybe we're back to normal.

I couldn't have said it better myself...

Out of the mouths of babes.......

The girls were eating lunch today. Alpha and I were having grilled cheese. She had just asked me where cheese came from so I told her milk. Then I said "and where does milk come from?" She responded with "cows." Not to be outdone, Beta then replies, "and cheese comes from ducks because they are yellow."

A few days ago, Alpha stood on a chair next to our refrigerator. We have some magnetic poetry words on there. She had found some words and rearranged them. She told me, "Look, mommy! This says "kids" "hot" "music" "a ways". "Music" was an ampersand (&), and she got the first and last words slightly wrong. What she really put together was "Kiss hot and always". *blush*