Holidays and Special Occasions

Well, I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday concerning this ongoing neck and shoulder pain I’ve been having. I thought it was slowly mending itself, but then the pain flared up again. The stiffness and accompanying dull aching sensations in my whole shoulder and neck area was becoming unbearable. So anyway, my doctor thinks that I either tore a muscle or some cartlidge and then arthritis set in. In December, I pinched a nerve in my neck. Then in January, while still recovering from my pinched nerve, I was reaching overhead for a blanket when I heard and felt a pop in my shoulder (probably the torn muscle or cartlidge the doctor was referring to.) So I’m a big ole mess here and let me tell you, it sucks.

It really sucks that I’m having such painful arthritis problems. I’m only 31. That’s a little depressing.

So anyway, he gave me a Cortisone shot in my shoulder and guess what? Now I’m experiencing a Cortisone Flare. The injection site is swollen and all the surrounding tissue is so sore that I can’t even touch it. I couldn’t take a shower last night because I literally could not move my right arm because of the pain each little movement caused in my shoulder/upper back. Just putting on my socks is agony. I can’t even think about lifting Nathan at this point. Fortunately, these symptoms should only last 24-48 hours, but until then, I have to rest my arm, take Ibuprofen, and ice the area. That means I can’t empty the trash, so my house stinks because the trash is full. Can’t vacuum, mop, clean, do dishes, do the litterboxes, etc. I hate, hate, hate not being able to take care of things around the house, which is probably what got me into this mess. Instead of resting my injury, I just pushed through the pain and kept doing the housework. I HATE getting behind on the housework because it takes forever to catch back up. Well, I’m not going to make that mistake again. I’m going to take it easy until my shoulder feels better. Not sure how I am going to deal with a messy house in the meantime… too bad Nathan’s not old enough to be handed some chores!

I know, I know. Woe am I, right?

Enough with my kvetching and self pity. In other news, my baby boy has turned THREE YEARS OLD! I can’t believe it! We had a party for him at a pizza place this last Saturday, and it was great. Just about the entire extended family was able to make it, along with a couple of my friends and their husbands and children. All in all, I think there was about 25 people or so in attendance. My dear friend of nearly 13 years baked a special cake just for Nathan. It was HEAVEN. In fact, I have been gorging on cake for the past few days, and if I gain any weight, I shall blame it entirely on my friend and not my temporary lack of self-control.

Here is a picture of that sugary deliciousness. It was a double-layer vanilla cake, and she made the checkerboard design with sheet icing.

And yes, I realize that I had placed Francesco (the green, red, and white car) on a collision course with Lightning McQueen. Francesco had been removed by little hands, and I wasn’t paying attention when I put him back on the track. Oh well. Nathan didn’t seem to care.

Singing happy birthday to Nathan! He totally loved everyone singing to him and was as proud as he could be that he was finally three years old.

Blowing out the candle with a little help from Daddy. It looks like Nathan was so focused on blowing the candle out that he could have face-planted into the cake.

Reading the card from his great grandparents (Paul’s grandparents). Believe it or not, Nathan really likes cards. Ever since his party, he’s been looking at his cards, carrying them around, and playing with them. I let him play with them until he starts to get too rough, then I put them away for safe keeping before he mauls them to death.

He loves opening presents. Although he seems to prefer unwrapping them, he also loves digging into gift bags and flinging the tissue in all directions. Look at his face- he was really concentrating!

He liked the wooden car my brother got him. And oh, see the hat he’s wearing? That’s his train conductor’s hat, a gift from Paul’s grandparents. Nathan LOVES it and has been wearing it constantly since he got it.

When he thought there were no more presents, he got a little upset. Hey, it’s not a party until someone cries, right?

Ahhhh sweet relief. There were more gifts after all.

This one was from Paul and me. Look at Nathan’s mouth hanging open as he examines it… he loves this toy. He loves ALL his toys. He got some super cool stuff… in fact, he made out like a bandit. He loves, loves, loves every single one of his gifts and has been playing with them all nonstop! Everyone picked out the perfect things for him… there was not a single present that he was disinterested in. In fact, when we got home from the party, we didn’t even bother trying to get him to nap. He was too pumped up about all his new toys. The first thing he does when he gets up in the mornings is break out the new stuff. Which is really, really cool.

See, Paul and I don’t buy him a whole lot of toys throughout the year. Don’t get me wrong, we DO buy him stuff, but he is not spoiled by any stretch of the imagination. So whenever he gets gifts, it just makes his day/week/month. Now I just need to find the time to go through his room and pack away the toys he’s outgrown.

Wow… I still cannot believe I’m the mother of a three year old.