Quarantined

After 3 days of house arrest, Justin was ready to break loose.

Collectively, the three of us have been a mess over the past 5 days or so. It started with Justin Alexander's mysterious wheezing on Tuesday. His breathing sounded bad to the point where a doctor's visit was warranted. I was hesitant since the only doctor available was one that I felt (from previous visits) was on a personal crusade to diagnose every baby in America with asthma... and as always V said it showed all over my face. So anyhow, by Tuesday night Justin had his own personal nebulizer (i.e., fancy breathing machine) and prescription for new meds. By Wednesday morning, the projectile vomiting marathon began as did Justin's 3-day house arrest with daddy. Quarantined for 72 hours. Oh what fun.

We still haven't a clue where the vomiting came from. At first I was sold on it being a side effect of the meds. But on the other hand, it was hard to ignore the fact that his daycare provider spent all of Tuesday "cleansing her system" (that's fancy talk for throwing up left and right). Her best guess was food poisoning, which makes some sense since no one else in her house got sick... but who knows. Either way, by Thursday Justin had dropped at least 1/2 pound (which by my calculations is the big-people equivalent of 5 pounds) and by Friday V and I suddenly didn't feel so well either. I fought off stomach issues all day with a bottle of pink stuff, while V wasn't so lucky. By friday evening, she joined Justin in the projectile marathon, lost 5 pounds of her own, and the circle of love and sharing was complete. Hey... we do everything as a family.

Somewhere in between all of that and in no particular order, Justin played hooky from daycare for 3 days straight, I fielded what seemed like 4000 calls for our vacancy at rental property 1, Justin's appetite came and went (and is finally close to normal again), his vomiting stopped, the wheezing improved, we changed his meds, my stomach settled while my throat got itchy (ugh), and V now seems back to normal. At the moment, I'm at the computer sipping Theraflu, Justin is asleep with minimal wheezing, and V is in the living room tutoring Geometry like nothing ever happened.

Never a dull moment.

SuperMom

V is part of a "New Mommies" discussion board and recently CC'ed me on an email that she sent to the group. Long story short, the email was so well written and provocative that I felt compelled to publish it on the blog for permenence. But first, here is my editorial lead-in.

The truth is, it can be argued all day long as to which is the greater sacrifice for a mom: leaving gainful employment (that you actually enjoy) to be at home full-time with your family, or being home only part-time in order to fulfill additional callings that God has pressed upon your life. In V's case, those callings include having the passion and ability to uniquely educate and essentially raise other people's children as a high school math teacher. Fortunate for her, God has blessed her with a supportive enough life partner (hooray... that's me) to where she is able to do both (work and raise Justin) successfully. And with that said, here is her original email, plus or minus some name changes but otherwise unedited.

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Elizabeth - I, too, am glad for you and your husband that things are working out in terms of making provisions while you stay at home raising DJ. Shamika, as you mentioned, once you are aligned with God's will for your life - God will provide (whether that's financially or otherwise).

I remember that going back to work was a very difficult decision for me and I went through a variety of emotions (both positive and negative) before I got total peace about our decision. Shamika probably remembers some of the discussions that we had during that confusing time for me. It actually wasn't until I went back to work that God confirmed in my heart that I was supposed to go back to work (at least for this season). Maybe He was trying to confirm it sooner, but I was too caught up in feelings of guilt to realize it.

In the midst of working through all of that, one of the biggest lessons that I learned is that not every mother is supposed to be a "stay-at-home" mom (and vice versa for that matter). If that were the case, you, Elizabeth, would not have any clients as a childcare provider because somebody has to work in order for you to have work - LOL! Seriously, though, it's easy to judge others based upon our own personal convictions, so I've learned to be mindful that God's will for my life may not be God's will for my Christian sister "next door." Within my circle of Christian friends and family, I have some that were/are stay-at-home moms and others who went back to work, and I really had to check myself to make sure I was not judging them either way.

This is why I can (now) easily rejoice with you Elizabeth and you Shamika (and potentially you, Persephone) about staying at home . . . because I am not on some kind of crusade to convince new moms to go back to work - LOL! That seems ridiculous, I know, but it happens (usually in reverse, though). Who knows if I will be working (outside of the home) or if I'll be a stay-at-home mom when the next child arrives, or even sooner for that matter?! Only God knows - and I'll be ready and willing either way.

In a Nutshell

Between Stanley Johnson's takeover in December and the hustle & bustle of the holidays, a number of events have passed that I didn't get a chance to blog about. Some of them at least got captured in the photo archive, but here are all the others that I never got around to mentioning:

A Done Deal
The Pennsylvania flip property is finally a done deal. We closed sometime during the first week of December and wrapped up all of the loose ends by year's end. More details to come in a subsequent blog entry.

Step Two
We used the proceeds from the PA flip to start working towards our second rental property. How's that for not letting money collect dust in the savings account? I think we got to admire the inflated numbers in our savings account for about a week before we signed a contract to fork over every penny of it. More on the new rental as the details develop.

The front view of Rental Property 2

Landlord Aches and Pains
Our tenant from Rental Property 1 moved out without notice. If you're looking for cheap thrills and ways to make your heart drop, try rolling up to your own rental property to find all the furniture gone and the place cleared out without notice. It just goes to show that you can do all the background checks in the world and think you have a good feel for someones character (we were just about ready to give him the Tenant Of The Year Award)... but you still never know a person as much as you think you do. What a deadbeat he turned out to be. But hey, at least Ruben and I now have a good story to tell about the "Law and Order" shake-down routine we reenacted once the deadbeat tenant decided to resurface. Besides that, there's nothing more to do but to regroup and move on. And so the search is on for tenant #2.

Commencement
In brighter news, at the age of (am I allowed to say?) ...V's mom earned her undergraduate degree from Southern Wesleyan University in December. Congratulations, Elena, on achieving a worthwhile milestone and exhibiting a fine example of determination and perseverance while working towards your goals.

Post-Graduation Family Portrait

Free Food
V is still pumping and breastfeeding Justin as she has done throughout his life. However, as of Christmas Eve she officially achieved her goal of keeping Justin exclusively breastmilk-fed for a minimum of six months. During the process, I learned through observation that for a working mom, keeping your baby formula-free is extremely hard work and takes way more dedication and sacrifice than I could have imagined. I'm extremely proud of you, V, and you should be proud of yourself given how important that was to you. Man, the time goes by so quickly... it's almost hard to remember the frustration, the tears, and how overwhelming and painstakingly difficult it was when we first started the whole process... If I had to sit and talk with one more lactation consultant....! But look at you now, a walking milk machine. Granted, we have no room for food for our freezer anymore, but I think Justin has enough milk to last him until high school graduation.

Full House
Also, my parents came to visit after Christmas and stayed until New Year's Day. We tried to put them out sooner but Justin actually enjoyed their company, so we let them stay. Then again, it could have been bribery given the absurd about of clothes and toys they came with. But then I guess that's what grandparents are for... (but don't even think about it... we are still putting you two on restrictions next year).



Old and Gray
When you get old enough, you start needing to actually do the math or use hints and clues to remember your age (funny... and sad... but true). Me, I use jersey numbers. And so with that said, a few days ago I gained "Patrick Ewing Status" and turned 33 years old. V sang happy birthday and Justin gleefully smashed his hands into my birthday brownies. Tonight we'll head to a local college b-ball game as our official birthday outing.

As an aside, my mom was amazed at how much gray hair I now have in my beard these days... to which I of course replied, "Wow... how old must you be if your son has gray hair already"... ha ha ha ha ha ha.

And that's when I learned that I wasn't too old to get a whoopin'.