The Nest

Problems with the Nest?

Posted Friday, August 15, 2008 4:02 PM

I've been trying to log-on to read the blogs, but every time I do, the site immediately redirects me to the front page of the thenest.com. Is anyone else having this issue?

I only managed to post this, as I kept hitting stop when it tried to redirect, and my browser won't navigate from forms (such as a blog form), without asking me. I've had to hit cancel several times when it tries to navigate away...

Anyone else having issues?

Ants

Posted Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:23 PM

We've been infested.

As I sit here in our office, typing away on the computer (the Hubby's - my laptop is working slower than the molasses in January, especially when I have it updating my iPod with all the podcasts I listen to during my lengthy commutes), I've had the distinct pleasure (NOT!!!) of having four ants crawl on me. Add this to the three ants I killed near our toilet in the bathroom, the four killed earlier in the living room, and the half-dozen I squished in our entry, and I'm so disgusted.

Between working, taking care of Little Dude and all the other fun things the Hubby and I do, we aren't the world's neatest people. But there is a difference between messy and dirty. We aren't dirty people, folks!

The house gets cleaned fairly intensely every other week and we vacuum, wipe things down and such between those times. The messiest room in the house (excluding my disorganized closet and buried dresser) - the kitchen. And what is the one room in which we haven't found any ants? I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count, but yes, THE KITCHEN!

The room has guaranteed crumbs (especially under the high chair), and usually one or two sticky spots on the counter that were missed, but do we have ants in there? NO!

So why, can I ask all of you, do we have ants in the living room, the office, the entryway and the bathroom?

It is freaking me out and between Little Dude and Supercat, we are lost with what to try next without worrying about the effects it may have on our smallest members of the household (no, the ants are not members of this household - I don't care how many of them beg to disagree).

I just killed another ant on the wall, and this is really turning into a disgusting horror movie I'm living right now. Ugh.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Edited to add:I just woke the Hubby and scared Supercat. I pulled out the vacuum.The carpeting was alive in the office and freaking me out, so I ran the vacuum in the office, entry and living room. At 10:15 pm. Thank goodness Little Dude's door was closed. The Hubby and Supercat will forgive me within a day, I hope.

Any assistance on ant remedies (non-toxic versions, especially), would be appreciated. A terminator is out of the question budget-wise right now.

By the way, that ant that dropped into our printer - should I be worried?

(And if you ask, yes, we've had problems before. Usually this time of year or earlier in the summer, every year, and prior to Little Dude being mobile, we were able to lock-up Supercat for a little while, and use some nasty stuff to spray around the entire house. It seemed to clear-up the problem, but I would like to have a "healthier" option if there is one. And yes, same locations...)

Originally published on August 10, 2008, at http://hillsmithfamily.com.  

I'm a winner!

Posted Wednesday, August 13, 2008 4:29 PM

Friday of last week brought me some happy news. I'm a winner!

Bee, of Bee's Buzzings, holds contests twice a month to win some of her beautiful artwork, note cards, or art pendants, and last Friday, I won!

I met (well, virtually met) Bee when I ordered a couple of Christmas gifts last year on her Etsy site. Not only did I order a couple of gifts, but I gifted myself with one of her necklaces and some prints of her artwork (Tranquility I, II & III, if you are interested), as I love the whimsical flavor of her work, and knew they would be beautiful on our bedroom walls.

Bee visits my blog, and I visit her blog. We've exchanged a few emails and I'm so happy to have gotten to know her better through the bloggy world, and I'm even more thrilled that I get to receive another piece of her work!

Today, I finally decided to add to the prints going on our bedroom's walls, as the colors are so perfect with the blue color scheme - she doesn't have another copy of my print online at the moment, or I would link you to it, but it matches the necklace I have through her.

Thank you, Bee, for drawing my name, and I suggest everyone go over and check out her talents. Be careful if you go shopping at Etsy, though. It is a scary addiction!

Originally published on August 8, 2008, at http://hillsmithfamily.com. 

Suffering economy means less all around

Posted Tuesday, August 12, 2008 11:40 AM

Do you think Little Dude will notice that his wagon isn't as big as his friends' wagons? ;-)

A troubled economy means less to spend - and less to spend means, well, less!

Truthfully though, the tiny wagon was on sale when we picked up tricycle for Little Dude this past weekend, and I couldn't resist. Someday, when he is done playing with it, I have the perfect way to decorate using it.

At the moment, it is being used to pull his stuffed bunnies (the "Guess how much I love you?" bunnies) around the living room. Pretty cute!

However, I thought these pictures illustrated the current economy pretty well. What do you think?

Originally published on August 5, 2008, at http://hillsmithfamily.com.

 

Will My Future Daughter-in-Law Thank Us?

Posted Monday, August 11, 2008 1:17 PM

The Hubby does the majority of the cooking in our household, and I'm happy to say we are raising a son who will hopefully love the kitchen, as well.

So what do you think? Will he have a very happy wife someday? I know I adore my Chef Hubby, and am thankful he learned to cook!

Originally posted on August 6, 2008, at http://hillsmithfamily.com. 

Milk-protein allergy update

Posted Friday, August 08, 2008 9:41 AM

I'm much calmer than yesterday, when I was freaking out about losing my nails. I may become a basket-case again as they begin to look worse, or if I discover Little Dude is losing any of his nails, but really, I'm just grateful that this should be the end of it. (And although it appears there are various strains of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, I'm hopeful that Little Dude and I will never encounter another version and become reinfected.)

Last night, around 8:30 pm, Little Dude's physician called to give us the update of his latest allergy test. (About a week ago, I mentioned a bad Friday morning, but didn't go into details - it involved a screaming and crying toddler, who had to have his blood drawn for allergy testing, after not being allowed to touch the computers in a doctor's office, where he threw a tantrum. Have I mentioned my little darling might be a bit strong-willed and do I need to say more?) We were retesting, as it had been a year since he was first diagnosed with his milk protein allergy, and the allergist recommended testing every year to a year and a half, since this is a common allergy to outgrow.

His allergy testing came back and although his allergy has decreased slightly, he is still EXTREMELY allergic to dairy proteins (specifically casein and whey, but there are many other ingredients for which we need to be on watch). He also is still allergic to the proteins found in goat's milk, so it appears we continue on with soy/kosher non-dairy/vegan choices in food.

Part of me feels really bummed by this news, as life would be much simpler if we didn't have to watch everything and everyone around Little Dude quite as much, but the other part of me is excited and hopeful, since it has reduced a little bit. Also, we've had to learn a lot about the foods we eat on this journey for the past year and that isn't a bad thing to learn.

We (the Hubby and I) eat healthier because we have to make better choices for Little Dude. We tend to purchase more organic items, we think about what we really need in a meal to make it taste good but still work for Little Dude, and both of us feel guilty eating something he can't have in front of him (especially since he is a little mooch), so we tend to eat less junk food/high-fat treats.

We've had to be creative in coming up with meal ideas, or in finding new ways to look at traditional items (plain chicken, burger, etc.), in order to make things work for Little Dude and to keep us from getting bored in the meal choices.

We've found restaurants (including one fast-food chain - thank you Culvers!) willing to work with Little Dude's allergy, so we occasionally (with economics being what they are, we really haven't gone out to eat much, at all) can take him out eat.

I've learned to ask questions about food and handling procedures - something I would have been too embarrassed to do in the past, but am forced to do to keep my son safe.

So, we retest in another year to a year and a half (somewhere between July-December 2009). Hopefully his allergy will have decreased enough to begin offering some dairy proteins at that point!

In the meantime, if you have a non-dairy recipe or restaurant recommendation you would like to share, we can certainly use more ideas to offer Little Dude more variety and make our lives a little easier.

And if you popped by to learn more about milk-protein allergies, I strongly suggest this Web site: GoDairyFree.org.

 Originally published on August 5, 2008, at http://hillsmithfamily.com.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease - The Continuing Saga

Posted Thursday, August 07, 2008 11:48 AM

Just when you thought it was safe, and that you once again can show off your hands and feet, it happens - the final blow of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease.

My fingernails are peeling off, from the base (or the sterile matrix, as I guess the nail bed is called). Not all of them - so far only one, in fact, but two others are showing signs that they might do the same thing, and I'm keeping a close eye on Little Dude's nails as well.

I was pretty certain I didn't have a nail fungus and that I didn't damage my nail in an accident, so I kind-of wondered about Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease being the issue when I started to notice the slight difference and peeling of my one nail. Not wanting to skew my results, I googled the following term - "nail peeling up from the base," and was not too surprised when I landed on this:

Question:
"My son's nails have started peeling from the base of the nail towards the tip. Usually fingernails peel from the tips (or so I thought anyway). What could be causing this to happen? He's the pickiest eater I've ever met... could it be malnutrition?"

Answer 1 out of 4
"Was he sick recently? When the kids are sick, their nails stop growing. When they are over the sickness, the nails grow again and it is not unusual for the nails and toes (check the toe nail beds) to slough and look like they're peeling when they grow again. My son goes to daycare and they all just got over hand-foot-mouth disease. His nails and two big toes were peeling. Ped said let's just watch it, but then I heard ALL the kids in his room has peeling nailbeds. So i called my daughter's ped dermatologist and that's what he told me. Hope that helps. I thought he smashed his fingers too. but the toe nails ruled that out."

The two people discussing this matter go on to discuss, yes, the child did have Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. (Please click over to read more.) And this wasn't the only listing I found for my google search. It appears this is a common reaction to the disease, which once again, mostly occurs in children.

I thought I felt disgusted by all the peeling skin Little Dude and I have been experiencing, due to where the blisters were located. This is much grosser.

Ugh.

Please tell me this is finally the end of this disgusting disease (and I'm so hoping Little Dude doesn't lose any of his nails)!

Originally published on August 4, 2008, at http://hillsmithfamily.com.