This is where we play catch up.

Rather than sit and type out a detailed recap of the last couple weeks, I am just going to list the noteworthy happenings in a rapid-fire fashion, toss in a few photos, and call it good. Mkay?

1. 2 weekends ago we loaded up {what felt like} our entire house and hit the road for Camy's first lake trip.. partaking in the big O'Family yearly tradition. 3 rent houses. 3 days. 3 dozen family members. 103 fevers. Yep. 103 fevers. {fevers = not part of the tradition} Luckily we squeezed a lot of fun out of the first half of our trip and got some great pics of Camy doing all sorts of O'Family fun things before she got sick.. there was lots of eating, swimming, floating, boating, tubing, jet skiing, board-gaming, marshmallow roasting, homemade ice cream making, gabbing... Camy loved every second of the trip until our last night there...

2. Our last night there was when she spiked the 103.3 fever around midnight and left us worrying and soothing the rest of the trip. Turns out it was roseola. 3 days of insane fevers followed by 4 days of whole-body rash.

3. The day after we returned from the lake (the same day we took Camy in for her fever), I came down with my second bout of mastitis. Not fun. At all. Luckily I recognized the symptoms right away and got right in to my OB/GYN for meds. Only missed one day of work/life before I started feeling human again.

4. Camy's rash cleared in time for us to partake in my nephew's birthday festivities in Houston that weekend. We had a fantastic time with my sister and her fam.. as usual.

the birthday boy

 the birthday aftermath! yikes!

I love how much these 2 girls love each other! {naked on account of the water table}

5. We celebrated Andy's first Father's Day while we were in H-Town. I got him a beer holster. He loves it.
He soaked in every second that he could with our precious girl that day - including naptime. When I look at these photos, I melt.

6. Tuesday afternoon I got a call from an old, old friend who I hadn't seen in ages. Her and her family had relocated to Canada a couple years ago and we just hadn't reconnected since their move back home. While living in Canada they conceived their third little one and about a month ago welcomed her to the world. Having 3 kids under 5 has been what she calls her "three ring circus" and she remembered seeing my blog post about babywearing. She called to ask about the what's and how's and why's of the concept and I was thrilled to visit with her Wednesday to a) meet her newest little love {precious!} and b) share the awesome that is BWing with her! She is a total BW convert now and was so excited to tell me she was able to get the older 2 ready for bed with the wee one strapped in the Moby, happy as a clam! YAY!

7. To demonstrate the Moby to my dear old friend mentioned above, I wrapped it on myself and tucked her 1 month old babe into the pouch. I am almost afraid to admit this, but I'm pretty sure I had a quick (QUICK) twinge of baby fever. She was tiny and snuggly and soft and smelled like a baby (not that Camy smells like an old man, but you know that smell of a new baby!). She was making all the new-baby sounds that have long been replaced by shrieks and babbles in our home (...which I love, btw). For a fleeting moment, I longed for another little tiny little thing. But it was fleeting. Quick. Now I'm back to my senses. No babies. Yet. Why?

8. Well, beside the obvious (um, pregnancy hates me, Camy isn't even a year old, we are living under a mountain of medical debt), I say "not yet!" today because this week has been h-a-r-d. It has really tested me. My patience. My abilities. My quick-thinking. My confidence as a mother. I feel like I have had more Mommy Fail Moments in the last 4 days than I have in the last 8 years I've been in childcare. I'm too ashamed and embarrassed to even list them all here, but they include things like carseat debacles, bloody noses, busted lips, hand sanitizer mishaps, keyboard keys, {what turned out to be a wildly unnecessary} trip to the ER.. and more.

9. ER? Yep, a trip to the ER. Camy had an allergic reaction to some unknown something last night that resulted in me yanking her out of the bathtub before so much as wetting her shoulders.. throwing together a diaper bag.. rushing to Walgreen's for Benadryl where instead of the pharmacist telling me her appropriate dosage, I was instead told to take her straight to the ER. [insert sudden Mommy Panic and Go Speed Racing!] We checked in, waited for triage, were given a room, and by the time the ER doctor made it in to see us, the hives and swelling and red/blue hands/arms had already cleared. Of course. Just add that trip to our long list of medical debt. Wonder how much that hour cost us. Ugh. I can't fault the pharmacist for advising us to go.. when she saw Camy's arms & hands they looked terrible, frightening. But it is frustrating looking back on the situation. Better safe than sorry, though. Right?

10. We've been trying to figure out what triggered her allergic reaction. It didn't present as a food allergy would, so we're thinking maybe this is to blame:

 this one is so out of focus, but too darn cute anyway!

{Her completed canvas now hangs in her playroom.}

{Perhaps we'll frame the ER bill and mount them side-by-side}

So, that's been the 2 weeks in a nutshell. Andy is not working tonight and I couldn't be happier about that. About having bedtime help. About having the opportunity to leave the house after Camy's bedtime nursing. To be able to go somewhere with some friends to unwind, or even somewhere by myself! I may call up a few ladies for drinks. I may go see a movie. I may just go sit at Barnes & Noble to read. I will definitely be doing something. For me and me only. I've totally earned it.