The girls in our playgroup took the kids to a new indoor play place called A Latte Fun. The moms are supposed to be able to drink coffee while the kids play but the area where you drink coffee doesn’t provide good viewing of the kids playing, so no latte’s for me. I tried getting pictures of Ethan but he was running so fast from thing to thing that all I got were blurs. He seemed to most enjoy the inflatable slide, the trampoline and the foam pit.

My bookclub/small group had our girls night out last night at Benihana’s. Yummo! We’ve been reading the “Case for Christ” but have had trouble getting through it. It’s a good book, just more like a textbook and when you are a busy mom with limited time, it’s hard to read slow moving books. I’ve learned a lot so far though, especially historical evidences and archeological evidences for Christ’s existance. We’ve decided that our lives as mom’s is so stressful that we need a girl’s night out once a month. Where to go next…?

I was at Walmart returning something yesterday and was quickly reminded of all my long standing issues with the chain. I boycotted them for over a year a while back because I was so frustrated by repeatedly bad experiences, most of them being waiting in line forever. George has been encouraging me to go there a buy groceries because of how inexpensive it is. And I’ve tried. But every time I leave frustrated. This is true for every Walmart I’ve been in. Yesterday I waited forever in the customer service line to return something. This never happens to me at Target (unless it’s during the holiday season). Several times recently I’ve been there and the bathrooms have been closed and they direct you to the bathrooms at the back of the store. This is so not helpful for women who are pregnant or for three year olds. Once I had to take Ethan to the bathroom twice during a Walmart visit. I’ve never seen the bathroom closed at Target. I just have found the customer service to be poor at Walmart. I was there a couple of weeks ago to pick up a “site to store” order and waited forever to have someone bring me my order. At least five people walked by me and asked “have you been helped?” I answered “no” and they didn’t offer to help, just walked off. Our local Walmart is always so croweded it is a pain to find parking and getting down the aisles is a hazard. So needless to say, I much prefer Target to Walmart. My only beef with Target is that they don’t keep things stocked, though that may be a business policy.

I’ve been bitten by the ebay bug. I’ve shopped there for a few years buying everything from bedding to antiques to furniture but I’ve never sold anything before. I’ve been desparate lately to have some of my own spending money that I decided to give it a try. I just want to make a few bucks to buy things that aren’t in the budget, like “mad money” I guess. So I put some of the clothes Ian outgrew online and sold them. So now I am hooked. I then sold some things I was going to give to Goodwill that was in my monthly Goodwill bag. (I hate clutter so I give stuff to them every month). So with my few bucks I ordered some drapery that I had been wanting to get for our bedroom. Thanks Kristine for your help and advice! Speaking of making money, I’m thinking of looking into making money with my blog which I’ve heard that you can do.

We had some friends who went to Covenant College over for dinner last night. We enjoyed sharing common experiences. Anytime we are with friends from Covenant it’s like talking to someone from home. The amazing thing really is that there is anyone else locally who went there because it is so small. They were four or five years behind us but we went to school with Sara’s sister and brother-in-law and Nat’s uncle is a professor there and before you know it there are other connections because the PCA and reformed community is so small. Because nearly everyone in Florida went to UF or FSU, we are always left out of conversations with most of our friends when college discussions come up. Anyway, we enjoyed it so thanks for coming guys!

Ian had his allergy testing yesterday. He didn’t start wimpering until she put on the fourth panel on his back. He came back with only one allergy: mold. He’s allergic to one of the mold’s they test for. The doctor said Ian has a suprisingly strong allergy for a baby. It is just a screening and not an actual test because they don’t put the allergens under the skin with a needle like they do with adults. So as they always tell me, he could be allergic to more things and that he shouldn’t have any stuffed animals, no carpeting and no ceiling fans. Based on this test, I think I’ve convinced George to find a company to test our house for mold.

I’ve been requesting a day off for a while but there weren’t any subs available to fill in for me:) It has been stressful at our house with the constant illnesses and Ethan being tired all the time. I think he uses all his energy to behave at school and other places that we go that when he is at home he just lets loose. So I have been blessed with constant tantrums. Anyway, I finally was able to get some time off on Monday afternoon. George came home around 4pm and I went to the mall. It’s so nice to walk around stores without a stroller banging in to all the racks. Not to mention having to use an elevator. I also enjoyed dinner by myself at a new restaurant Tossed. It’s a salad place and any salad that involves Goat cheese, nuts and dried cranberries is great in my book. I also enjoyed a trip to the Publix Greenwise Market which I hadn’t been to before. It’s like Whole Foods but less crowded. Of course I came home to chaos and it looked like a tornado had been through the house while I was gone.

George worked Easter this year. We decided to go to Sebring for Easter because his aunt and uncle were still in town. George left for work very early Easter Sunday from Sebring. Ethan enjoyed fishing in the lake with Uncle John and cousin Mike and caught his first fish. We slept in the neighbor’s house across the street because they were out of town. It was nice having the space for everyone to have their own room but despite that, no one slept well. Ian’s stomach didn’t tolerate the steroids very well so I stopped the medication. Ethan started coughing again, probably another sinus infection. I found a mold inspection company to use so hopefully we’ll have that resolved soon.

Ian started his breathing treatments right away after seeing the pediatrician but he was still wheezing. Poor thing cries the entire treatment and is fussy for two hours following. I took him to my allergist (since we are there almost every week anyway) who diagnosed him with asthma and put him on prednisone (Oripred). He is scheduled for allergy testing next week. I hate Prednisone but it immediately took effect and his coughing is almost gone. Ian having asthma has really pushed me over the edge. I have accepted all of my issues with asthma and sinus stuff because I have had allergies my whole life and they have worsened significantly since being in Florida (and because of all the home visiting I used to do for my job). And then when Ethan was born and had eczema I knew he inherited it from me. Then when he began having trouble with asthma I figured it was genetic again and that he had allergies. Now that he has been tested twice and doesn’t have any, I began wondering if we may all be getting sick from our house. George was also recently tested because of all his sinus issues and he doesn’t have allergies. And now Ian. So I’ve decided to try and find a reputable company to inspect our house for mold. I didn’t initially pursue this idea because I have no allergies to molds but now I know that there are molds that people have reactions to without being allergic. All of our problems began since we moved into this house (not my allergies but my chronic sinus problems). It was totally trashed and we had to completely renovate it. We found mold when we replaced the showers in the bathrooms and we could tell that there had been leaks in the house. We have had leaks since we’ve been here, a pipe bursting under Ethan’s room being one. Plus the two hurricanes we’ve had. So until I pursue this theory that maybe our problems are from mold, there is no way I will pursue surgery for Ethan.

I decided I should update my blog since it’s no longer just “ethan and me.” Of course I’m not going to change the name of the blog but I thought I should change it a bit. I thought it would be fun to add music and some of my favorite websites and other blogs of note. I was very proud of myself three years ago when I began my blogging adventure since I’m not the most computer savvy of people. And blogs have evolved a lot in the past few years. It was fun to experiment and make the changes. Of course I couldn’t do it by myself. George had to help me add the music, a little too complicated for me.