Best Birthday Present Ever

No it wasn’t any of the lovely things you see here… (thanks everyone!)…

And it wasn’t the bridal shower for my cousin that I got to attend- cookies, cupcakes, presents, and fruit kebobs in tow.

   

The best birthday present ever wasn’t the sweet kisses I got to give and get from these two little girls.

Nor was it coming home from shopping with my Mom to this melt-your-heart-sight.

And it wasn’t the giant mocha coffee I enjoyed while Lilly browsed the shelves at Barnes and Nobles.

The Best Birthday Present Ever was getting shingles for the second, as in not once but twice contracted, time in my young life.  And to make it worse, the shingles are on my face and in my hairline. I basically look like a leper.

Common, I’m kidding, ok? Definitely the worst birthday present ever, in the history of my 24 birthdays. I guess I handle stress well from an emotional standpoint but the strain it puts on my physical health seems to be devastating sometimes. Freshman year of college I dealt with shingles the week before finals week. And the docs say I got all my stomach ulcers from stress. Blehk. But shingles is by far and wide the absolute worst pain I have ever had to deal with. And trust me, I’ve had some bad ones: getting my hand stuck in a hand mixer, tearing my tendons while canyoning in Switzerland, a bad ski accident in 7th grade, smashing my hand in a weight machine- the list goes on.

Besides the pain, the blistery rash is horrendous and depressing. I’m hoping it won’t be so bad this time since I felt the pain early and got on medicine right away.

I can’t nurse Grace while on all these medications, so I am giving her pumped breastmilk bottles at the moment. I don’t know if they’ll last for the duration of the shingles treatment but if I have to give Grace formula, I’ve come to terms with that. I’m hanging on by a thread trying to deal with the pain, the tiredness and fatigue from the medicine, the dizziness and mood swings- but it is hands down the hardest thing to try and handle this infection while taking care of my baby girls. The two of them crying and needing me, Lilly being sick with a cold, on top of getting bottles thawed out (they only last 24 hours once thawed so I’m keeping them frozen until needed) and pumping while both girls are still upset or needing one thing or another- it’s incredibly difficult. And trying to remember to eat!  Tough.

But you live and learn, and you know that this too shall pass. It’s just another blip in the life that I love, the life that I wouldn’t trade anything for. Despite the jokes my parents and I toss around, I do have the patience to deal with this too and I am fully capable of getting past this with the help of my family and of course my wonderful husband. He will take care of us all.

Moving on to more interesting things than the scales forming on my face-

I’ve been loving every minute of this dress wearing, spend the day outside, eat popsicles kind of weather. Lilly has been happy and occupied and we’ve been having fun days together. How cute is this purple dress my Mom got her and those adorable pink sandals? They’re from Old Navy, and at $2.50 a piece I don’t think you can get any better than that!

Surveying Daddy’s progress on the garden he is building for his girls.

Still needs a lot of work!

Upset about one thing or another… hard to tell what these days!

“I’m not gonna do it Mom!”

“Can we go to the swings?”

We’re hoping the garden gets finished this week/weekend but it might get further delayed due to the weather and our crazy schedule. Hockey games, swim lessons, bridal showers- we’ve got a packed schedule. Not to mention the doctor’s appointments I have to get all of us to in May. Between Grace, and now myself, I think we’ve got 11 appointments on our plate this month. Hopefully all of Grace’s bloodwork stays ok so we don’t have to add to that number!

I’m most anxious about Gracie’s formal evaluation at the School For The Blind next Friday. I’ve been doing a lot of research about CVI (cortical visual impairment) and infant vision development for term and preterm babies so I feel very prepared. But who knows. If it’s not one thing, it’s another!

Lots more posts to come. Fun tutorials and lots of food!

Check back soon <3