it pours. And in my case, it torrnados. Things have been a mess. Let me elaborate...
October 15th:
- While having a meeting with E's Regional Center case worker, I notice she has discharge coming from her right ear. I mention it to D when he gets home. Since she had a nasty cold the week before, we are suspicious she has an ear infection coming on. We decide to call the triage line and they say to just call the next morning for a doctor appointment and not to worry too much.
October 16th:
- Now both of her ears are starting to ooze and I spend from 8:00am- 4:30pm trying to have her seen by ANYONE that will take her and just keep being told there nothing until tomorrow. As soon as D gets home from work and can stay home with the other three kids, I call work and tell them what has been going on and set off to the e.r. with her because the discharge is green and increasing in amount. After wasting six long hours at the e.r., they try telling me it is just a viral infection and send us on our way. I am so mad that I could literally punch someone in the face (preferably the "doctor").
October 17th:
- I have an appointment already set for E, but am out of diapers, wipes, and formula and D has a duty weekend so he is at work. So I am forced to go to Target with all four kids and buy what I needed with my discount. The discharge is now on a constant stream out of both ears and she is spiking a fever and I am dragging this poor baby around town with me. I feel like a monster and D meets me at the hospital right as she is being seen by the doctor. No surprise, she has a double ear infection and they put her on oral and ear drop antibiotics. I hate the e.r. at Balboa. We spend the next two weeks fighting this ear infection off. And just as we think have jumped that hurtle and are doing good...
October 29th:
- It is 10:00pm and I can hear one of the kids breathing really hard. When I inspect, it is G and she is pulling a little hard breathing. I say a prayer that she will be brought to me if something is wrong. Ten minutes later, she is in my room and she is burning up. I give her tylenol and motrin combined to douse the fever down and keep her in my bed to keep an eye on her.
October 30th:
- By 6:00 am, G is so feverish that she is shaking too hard to hold her sippy cup of ice water. I repeat the tylenol/motrin and call medical as fast as possible. By this point, she has a 103 temp, coughing, difficulty breathing, snotty nose, and shaking and chills. They get her in within an hour and a half at a remote clinic and we get over there asap. Once seeing her, they take samples for their rapid flu test and line our whole family up (everyone except D was there) and start administering flu shots, both kinds. So, E and Z each get two shots a piece and M and I get flu mist and one shot each. G isn't vaccinated because she is sick and when the test results come back, they say she has H1N1. Yeah, that's right, H1N1. Because of E's immune problems, there is a decision made to treat her with Tamiflu along with G as a precaution. So, I call D and he heads over to medical to be tested in case there is any sign at all he has it. His is negative and there is no vaccine at the clinic yet, so they tell him "don't catch it". LOL! Seriously? Don't catch it? I had no idea it was so easy! Nerds. Anyway, we head over to the Balboa hospital pharmacy and they expedite us after I get ugly about my feverish three year old. I even had to strip her down right there because of how hot she was getting and it worked. They got those meds in record time! We head home to try dealing with the situation.
October 31st:
- G stays home with D while I take the other three to Trunk or Treat at church. I find someone who can take M trick or treating since I have work and D has to be home with the other three kids. G improves slowly as she takes her Tamiflu.
November 1st:
- D takes M, E, and Z to church while I stay home with G and I get ready for work. After everyone is home, I head off to work for my 5:30-9:15 shift. By 6:30, I get a call at work from D that M has a fever of over 102.7 degrees. I am sent straight home once I tell them what is going on and I take her to the Balboa e.r. as soon as I get home. I had D give her fever reducers, so she is actually doing okay when I get her there. We then sit in the e.r. for over five hours and her fever climbs and climbs until I get angry and they take her back. She has full body chills, is coughing, nauseous, and looks miserable. They run a chest x-ray to rule out anything big and when it comes back clean, they send us home without a single flu test or medicine. I'm am spitting fireballs I am so angry.
November 2nd:
- I get M into a "real" doctor and she gives her Tamiflu. Target calls me and lets me know that they have a special policy on families with H1N1 where I don't have to come to work and they will still pay me for my missed shifts. I cried.
November 4th:
- I get a call that D is in the hospital for reasons I won't get into, but it means I am on my own with the kids... and Z is getting a fever. By 11:00 pm, Z's tempurature is 103* and I am on my own with all four kids and no way to get him to a hospital. My kids are all still very contagious so no one can or should come help me with the kids. So I call a friend that I know is up that late, usually from her hours at Target, and she calms me down and tells me ideas to lower his temp. I get a washcloth and wet it with cool water. I wipe Z down for quite some time while I wait for the Tylenol to take affect again until he is cooled down and calm. By the time I go to bed, it is well past 1:00 am.
November 5th:
- I am up by 6:00 am. I get my whole brood to the doctor for Z to be seen and they have to put us in an isolation room so that we aren't around the waiting room area people. I am really feeling like a lepper at this point. The corpman takes three samples from Z's nose and when the results come back, he has H1N1, RSV, and she finds an ear infection. He is really sick. I fill her in on our situation with the three confirmed flu kids and my husband being in the hospital as well and she asks if I will be able to keep going. I am in survival mode and tell her I am going to be just fine. We go to the pharmacy and I again am able to get the meds expedited and go straight home. One friend takes my money and grocery list and buys all my food for the next two weeks and another friend comes over wearing a face mask and gloves and helps me put my groceries away and get a sanitation station set up outside my front door and inside my house. Again, I feel like I am the island of the leppers. Sucks to be me.
November 6th:
- I am surviving. I have been unable so far to even so much as cry, but I have been laughing. Laughing. So weird. I am so weird. I guess whatever gets you through being on house arrest with four sick children and an absent spouse, is going to have to do. I have to say that I have received some serious love and support during this time and so has D. Even though no one can actually come here to help because of the contagiousness and all, certain people have still been so supportive and helpful and concerned. People are even spending visiting hours with D since I can't. All in all, I am in a super scary and crappy situation surrounded by love and support (from a safe distance of course LOL). I guess all in all "this too shall pass". We just need prayers and faith and we will be okay. mantra- we will be okay, we will be okay, we will be okay... ;)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Birthday Madness
So, I haven't been very active here because I am employed now. I work at Target in the photo lab/guest service desk/cash registers since the first week of September. So far, so good. But this means that when I am not at home taking care of the kids and house and running around to E's appointments, I am at work. D is at work during the day and then comes home to take care of the kids, dinner, and bedtime. So, we are making it work and that is what matters.
In other news, it is the THE BIRTHDAY WEEK. E was on October 5th, mine was yesterday on the 8th, and G's is coming up on the 11th. We went ahead and celebrated E's birthday on her birthday just as a family and had a WONDERFUL time. I made curry shrimp with mango sauce and E inhaled it. Then we had brownies that I decorated with frosting and sprinkles and had her blow out her candles (with help from everyone). Presents came next- musical instruments and a "flinstones" car- and the girls had a blast playing with them together. And to wind down the excitement, we got out blankets and pillows and laid down in the front room to watch "The Nightmare Before Christmas". It was a perfect time together celebrating our E.
Last night was the party for myself and G. We had our friends J and J Baby over (with their mommy). They got to wear their Halloween costumes, make pizzas with me, and have presents for G. She got a bath time mermaid slide/swing and a set of Disney princess barbies, and princess book. I don't think we could have gotten her better gifts with how excited she was to get them. Even this morning, the first thing she and M did was to get out the toys, break open the barbies, and get set up at the kitchen table for some serious playing.
Lastly, our Z is growing like a weed (the CUTEST weed I have ever seen). He is army crawling everywhere, eats like a garbage disposal, and understands so much. As soon as D walks in the door and the girls yell out "Daddy!" and run to him, Z starts speed crawling and crying to get to his daddy as fast as possible. Those two are buddies and Z lights up whenever his daddy comes around. He also wants in on the action that his sisters are up to. Wherever they are, he is crawling to find them and be around them. When they are in the bath, he is on the floor next to the tub (but HATES being in it HA HA). When they are in their rooms playing, he is in there on the floor finding toys to play with too. I can honestly say that he is one of the greatest joys I have ever known and I get to enjoy him every day. I feel so lucky to have him (and his beautiful older sisters).
One final note concerns E. She was seen by what is called a Cranio-Facial Team a couple of weeks ago. After seeing a plastic surgeon, it is confirmed that she has a cleft submucousal palate and bifid uvula and will be having surgery within the next six months to repair it. I have mixed emotions concerning this because on the positive aspect of this, she will finally get to make progress with her speech and eating and will no longer suffer through nasal regurgitation any more. Her sinuses will get a chance to heal up from all the stuff that goes through them daily and she will get to live normally in at least that one area. On the other side of this coin, I am scared to death of putting her through such a serious procedure. This will put her under the knife, will hurt, take time for recovery, and very likely set her back with her eating and speech. The comfort I am pulling is that I was blessed with a vision of what life will be like for her once this is done and how much better she will be. I know this was a gift of comfort and strength given to me by God because after watching the recovery process after her g-tube placement, I am terrified to put her through anything like that again. So, here we are. The referrals are all in the process of being approved over the next week for her to go in for the consult and the MRI's to get ready. Then I will need to get my request in to work for a couple of days off to be with her in the hospital. Something very important is that this has to be done before we exit the military by as early as May 1st of next year. So, please send prayers for E and our family, they can only help. I hope you enjoyed catching up on our family and I send out my love to you!
In other news, it is the THE BIRTHDAY WEEK. E was on October 5th, mine was yesterday on the 8th, and G's is coming up on the 11th. We went ahead and celebrated E's birthday on her birthday just as a family and had a WONDERFUL time. I made curry shrimp with mango sauce and E inhaled it. Then we had brownies that I decorated with frosting and sprinkles and had her blow out her candles (with help from everyone). Presents came next- musical instruments and a "flinstones" car- and the girls had a blast playing with them together. And to wind down the excitement, we got out blankets and pillows and laid down in the front room to watch "The Nightmare Before Christmas". It was a perfect time together celebrating our E.
Last night was the party for myself and G. We had our friends J and J Baby over (with their mommy). They got to wear their Halloween costumes, make pizzas with me, and have presents for G. She got a bath time mermaid slide/swing and a set of Disney princess barbies, and princess book. I don't think we could have gotten her better gifts with how excited she was to get them. Even this morning, the first thing she and M did was to get out the toys, break open the barbies, and get set up at the kitchen table for some serious playing.
Lastly, our Z is growing like a weed (the CUTEST weed I have ever seen). He is army crawling everywhere, eats like a garbage disposal, and understands so much. As soon as D walks in the door and the girls yell out "Daddy!" and run to him, Z starts speed crawling and crying to get to his daddy as fast as possible. Those two are buddies and Z lights up whenever his daddy comes around. He also wants in on the action that his sisters are up to. Wherever they are, he is crawling to find them and be around them. When they are in the bath, he is on the floor next to the tub (but HATES being in it HA HA). When they are in their rooms playing, he is in there on the floor finding toys to play with too. I can honestly say that he is one of the greatest joys I have ever known and I get to enjoy him every day. I feel so lucky to have him (and his beautiful older sisters).
One final note concerns E. She was seen by what is called a Cranio-Facial Team a couple of weeks ago. After seeing a plastic surgeon, it is confirmed that she has a cleft submucousal palate and bifid uvula and will be having surgery within the next six months to repair it. I have mixed emotions concerning this because on the positive aspect of this, she will finally get to make progress with her speech and eating and will no longer suffer through nasal regurgitation any more. Her sinuses will get a chance to heal up from all the stuff that goes through them daily and she will get to live normally in at least that one area. On the other side of this coin, I am scared to death of putting her through such a serious procedure. This will put her under the knife, will hurt, take time for recovery, and very likely set her back with her eating and speech. The comfort I am pulling is that I was blessed with a vision of what life will be like for her once this is done and how much better she will be. I know this was a gift of comfort and strength given to me by God because after watching the recovery process after her g-tube placement, I am terrified to put her through anything like that again. So, here we are. The referrals are all in the process of being approved over the next week for her to go in for the consult and the MRI's to get ready. Then I will need to get my request in to work for a couple of days off to be with her in the hospital. Something very important is that this has to be done before we exit the military by as early as May 1st of next year. So, please send prayers for E and our family, they can only help. I hope you enjoyed catching up on our family and I send out my love to you!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Awesome Alice
I found out today that a roommate of mine from BYU-Idaho passed away 6 1/2 years ago which was only one year after she started college. She was only sick for one year before it took her. Alice was awesome. She was happy and bright. She was athletic and ambitious and extremely intelligent. She loved being naked LOL. I am sorry for not finding out about this sooner, but here are some memories for those of us who knew her to enjoy in photos. Heaven is a better place with her in it.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Evil, Flat, Purple Ball
6/29/2009
7:00 am- Wake up to stupid phone ringing and have to run to front room to answer before the person hangs up. Answer and it is Hubby asking about Elizabeth’s appointments so his work knows when he won’t be there. Feel tired all the way down into bones.
7:05 am- Take away package of hotdogs that Bruiser has gotten out of the fridge and she screams. Try to give her milk and she says no to it, so walk out of kitchen annoyed as she screams some more. Sit down at computer to do usual check of email, Facebook, and Blogger. Find it note-worthy to mention that Billy Mays and Ed McMahon have died also. Am freaked out about celebrities dropping like flies.
7:08 am- Give Bruiser a hug and she calms down. Now to go get Baby Girl out of crib and love on her. Then will need to start changing diapers and get day going. Am extremely glad that we cleaned up the house yesterday before babysitting starts back up today.
7:23 am- Diapers changed on all three… check. Now to go look at my check list and start moving down it in an effort to get things done before other two kids arrive.
7:45 am- Drag self off of couch after listening to Bruiser and Baby Girl play together in kitchen and cuddling with Boo Bear. See that Baby Boy has FINALLY learned to roll onto his back from his tummy and am relieved that this might mean he won’t roll onto his stomach and lay there screaming anymore. Decide to go make breakfast.
7:50 am- Have decided that it is best to give up on wearing anything but pajama pants today and just pull hair back to get out of way. Listen to “Phineas and Ferb” on t.v.
7:53 am- Stop Baby Girl from poking Baby Boy’s eyes out. Special.
8:02 am- While cooking up turkey bacon, find Baby Girl eating and drawing with chalk on kitchen floor. Awesome. Take away chalk and she cries because of the injustice.
8:07 am- Give Baby Girl her Claritin and Nasanex and feel bad for her because it HAS to taste terrible and feel icky to get the spray and drink the medicine.
8:15 am- Don’t you hate it when you go to do the dishes and the running water makes you need to pee?
8:16 am- Don’t you hate it when you REALLY have to pee and when you rush into the bathroom you realize there is no more toilet paper? So you have to run to get a new roll before you get to go? Yeah, me too.
9:00 am- Breakfast served and cups and bottles distributed to everyone. Don’t you hate it when you actually make a nice breakfast like bacon and scrambled eggs and your kids aren’t very grateful or interested in it? Yeah, me too. Makes me a strong believer in plain ol’ cold cereal with yogurt or fresh fruit. Baby Boy is getting peeved that I haven’t sat down to feed him his breakfast yet. Gotta love that super yummy formula that smells like something no one should EVER consume.
9:05 am- Stare into Baby Boy’s huge denim blue eyes and feel so much love… and then he farts on me.
9:10 am- Am finished feeding (and being farted on by) Baby Boy and get last of dishes loaded into dishwasher and turn on. Clean up counters and put uneaten bacon aside to make bacon bits for later.
9:35 am- Have finished in kitchen and notice that Boo Bear is pushing Bruiser around in a toy stroller and decide to not participate in a battle over it. Have decided that the game will end when a) the stroller breaks or b) they find something else to play and abandon stroller abuse game. Baby Boy starts screaming again to tell me he is NOT full.
9:40 am- Have a fresh bottle made up and am stuck on couch feeding Baby Boy. Decide to watch Tory & Dean reality show until he is full and looking for his binki (pacifier). Go retrieve binki and put him in swing and listen to horrible sound of music while batteries die a slow and painful death.
10:50 am- Am finally free of sitting around on couch now that Baby Boy is awake. Did, however, enjoy being able to sit and watch a show (even if it is Tory & Dean). Realize that if Tory Spelling can talk about wiping poop out of her daughter’s hoo-haa in a book and people actually buy it, that there are limitless possibilities for people to write about dumb things and make money for it.
11:09 am- Boo Bear comes up to me to inform me that she is a dog now and I say “ok” and she happily runs off making happy dog sounds. Yesterday she was a robot and in true robot style only said “robot” to everything I said to or asked her. I think robot is my favorite so far, but I did like these also: unicorn, Tinkerbell, cat, and mermaid. Wonder what she will come up with next???
11:12 am- Put an almost flat, purple ball in time out because it is making the kids hostile to play with it. Figured out long ago that it is waaay easier to put toys in time out than kids.
11:30 am- Oh crap, I have two more diapers Baby Boy’s size left… guess he will be wearing a size bigger until Hubby gets home. My bad.
11:35 am- Fresh diapers, clean daytime clothes, and brushed hair and teeth… check!
11:45 am- Daddy V arrives to drop off Scrapper and Baby V and he reminds me it will be MY turn to go to the gym and I am STOKED! Yay hoo! I can finally start running again!
11:55 am- Preheat oven to make chicken nuggets and French fries. Catch Baby Girl stealing flat, purple ball from Baby V (evil ball) and give it back to him. Take grumpy Baby Girl to her bed for a nap and she is NOT happy with me.
12:06 pm- Go and start putting away dishes in the dishwasher.
12:09 pm- Scrapper in timeout for pushing Bruiser during a fight over evil flat, purple ball. Hide evil ball somewhere it won’t go all “Lord of the Rings” on the kids anymore. Put food in oven and continue drying and putting away dishes.
12:15 pm- Hear Baby V start screaming while helping the two year olds pick a bucket of toys to play with. Locate screaming Baby V stuck under computer desk and rescue him. Give him a toy truck and all is forgiven.
12:45 pm- Feed the thee oldest girls, Baby Girl is in bed asleep, and sit down to comfort both the baby boys on the floor. See that Baby V is getting to be able to stand unsupported and am so proud of him!
1:00 pm- Have gotten Baby Boy fed and down for a nap and put Bruiser down for a nap she will likely refuse to take. Plan on letting her have a couple of hours of quiet time anyway. Less two year old throw-downs to deal with that way. Think it is time now to change Scrapper and Baby V’s diapers before going ahead and getting on with dishes that I STILL haven’t finished putting away. Sigh…
2:19 pm- Wow. I don’t know how else to describe the controlled chaos of the day so far. Baby V and Scrapper are now down for naps and I have surrendered to Bruiser’s hysterics yet again and she has been freed. Baby Boy is up and annoyed that I am not holding him (not that unusual) but I am hopeful now that he is in his bumbo that he might be happy.
2:26 pm- While on the phone with Hubby, who is now off work and on the way home, Boo Bear runs over to me crying and I automatically assume she and Bruiser have had an altercation. Wrong. She is tattling on a toy puzzle. Yeah, you heard me right, a toy puzzle. Have I created a tattle-telling monster??? Yes, yes I have.
2:39 pm- Have been going to check on Scrapper in five minute intervals as she doesn’t feel like napping today and thinks it is a great time to play with all the toys in Boo Bear’s room. Can’t blame her since there is A LOT of stuff to play with, but still have to be consistent and get her back in bed. Who needs a gym when you watch six kids under the age of five?
3:00 pm- Let the Evening Madness commence! Baby V is screaming for baby food, Baby Boy is screaming because he is tired and won’t sleep, Boo Bear and Bruiser start to fight over the toy stroller, and Baby Girl just wanders around trying to poke the babies in the eyes. Ahhh!!!
3:40 pm- Hubby home, Baby V fed and happy, Baby Boy passed out in his chair, and my three girls are playing or in timeout depending on the moment. Time to get on with the laundry section of the day… only 8 hours behind schedule!
4:00 pm- Sit on floor and fold laundry while we sing Patty Cake Patty Cake, Wheels on the Bus, Ittsy Bittsy Spider, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Baby V sits and smiles and claps for every song and is super happy!
4:30 pm- Snacks for all the awake kids… check. One of two loads of laundry folded or on hangers… check. Hubby has damaged himself again… big check! Now to get first load of laundry put away and dinner started up… Chicken Baked Steak with Homemade Mashed Potatoes. Woo Hoo!
9:20 pm- Have survived making dinner, serving dinner, bathing kids, changing sheets on all the beds, getting kids in pajamas and in bed, and getting laundry folded, hung, and put away. Am EXHAUSTED and feel a long night of sleep is a well deserved super duper idea! Goodnight to all!
7:00 am- Wake up to stupid phone ringing and have to run to front room to answer before the person hangs up. Answer and it is Hubby asking about Elizabeth’s appointments so his work knows when he won’t be there. Feel tired all the way down into bones.
7:05 am- Take away package of hotdogs that Bruiser has gotten out of the fridge and she screams. Try to give her milk and she says no to it, so walk out of kitchen annoyed as she screams some more. Sit down at computer to do usual check of email, Facebook, and Blogger. Find it note-worthy to mention that Billy Mays and Ed McMahon have died also. Am freaked out about celebrities dropping like flies.
7:08 am- Give Bruiser a hug and she calms down. Now to go get Baby Girl out of crib and love on her. Then will need to start changing diapers and get day going. Am extremely glad that we cleaned up the house yesterday before babysitting starts back up today.
7:23 am- Diapers changed on all three… check. Now to go look at my check list and start moving down it in an effort to get things done before other two kids arrive.
7:45 am- Drag self off of couch after listening to Bruiser and Baby Girl play together in kitchen and cuddling with Boo Bear. See that Baby Boy has FINALLY learned to roll onto his back from his tummy and am relieved that this might mean he won’t roll onto his stomach and lay there screaming anymore. Decide to go make breakfast.
7:50 am- Have decided that it is best to give up on wearing anything but pajama pants today and just pull hair back to get out of way. Listen to “Phineas and Ferb” on t.v.
7:53 am- Stop Baby Girl from poking Baby Boy’s eyes out. Special.
8:02 am- While cooking up turkey bacon, find Baby Girl eating and drawing with chalk on kitchen floor. Awesome. Take away chalk and she cries because of the injustice.
8:07 am- Give Baby Girl her Claritin and Nasanex and feel bad for her because it HAS to taste terrible and feel icky to get the spray and drink the medicine.
8:15 am- Don’t you hate it when you go to do the dishes and the running water makes you need to pee?
8:16 am- Don’t you hate it when you REALLY have to pee and when you rush into the bathroom you realize there is no more toilet paper? So you have to run to get a new roll before you get to go? Yeah, me too.
9:00 am- Breakfast served and cups and bottles distributed to everyone. Don’t you hate it when you actually make a nice breakfast like bacon and scrambled eggs and your kids aren’t very grateful or interested in it? Yeah, me too. Makes me a strong believer in plain ol’ cold cereal with yogurt or fresh fruit. Baby Boy is getting peeved that I haven’t sat down to feed him his breakfast yet. Gotta love that super yummy formula that smells like something no one should EVER consume.
9:05 am- Stare into Baby Boy’s huge denim blue eyes and feel so much love… and then he farts on me.
9:10 am- Am finished feeding (and being farted on by) Baby Boy and get last of dishes loaded into dishwasher and turn on. Clean up counters and put uneaten bacon aside to make bacon bits for later.
9:35 am- Have finished in kitchen and notice that Boo Bear is pushing Bruiser around in a toy stroller and decide to not participate in a battle over it. Have decided that the game will end when a) the stroller breaks or b) they find something else to play and abandon stroller abuse game. Baby Boy starts screaming again to tell me he is NOT full.
9:40 am- Have a fresh bottle made up and am stuck on couch feeding Baby Boy. Decide to watch Tory & Dean reality show until he is full and looking for his binki (pacifier). Go retrieve binki and put him in swing and listen to horrible sound of music while batteries die a slow and painful death.
10:50 am- Am finally free of sitting around on couch now that Baby Boy is awake. Did, however, enjoy being able to sit and watch a show (even if it is Tory & Dean). Realize that if Tory Spelling can talk about wiping poop out of her daughter’s hoo-haa in a book and people actually buy it, that there are limitless possibilities for people to write about dumb things and make money for it.
11:09 am- Boo Bear comes up to me to inform me that she is a dog now and I say “ok” and she happily runs off making happy dog sounds. Yesterday she was a robot and in true robot style only said “robot” to everything I said to or asked her. I think robot is my favorite so far, but I did like these also: unicorn, Tinkerbell, cat, and mermaid. Wonder what she will come up with next???
11:12 am- Put an almost flat, purple ball in time out because it is making the kids hostile to play with it. Figured out long ago that it is waaay easier to put toys in time out than kids.
11:30 am- Oh crap, I have two more diapers Baby Boy’s size left… guess he will be wearing a size bigger until Hubby gets home. My bad.
11:35 am- Fresh diapers, clean daytime clothes, and brushed hair and teeth… check!
11:45 am- Daddy V arrives to drop off Scrapper and Baby V and he reminds me it will be MY turn to go to the gym and I am STOKED! Yay hoo! I can finally start running again!
11:55 am- Preheat oven to make chicken nuggets and French fries. Catch Baby Girl stealing flat, purple ball from Baby V (evil ball) and give it back to him. Take grumpy Baby Girl to her bed for a nap and she is NOT happy with me.
12:06 pm- Go and start putting away dishes in the dishwasher.
12:09 pm- Scrapper in timeout for pushing Bruiser during a fight over evil flat, purple ball. Hide evil ball somewhere it won’t go all “Lord of the Rings” on the kids anymore. Put food in oven and continue drying and putting away dishes.
12:15 pm- Hear Baby V start screaming while helping the two year olds pick a bucket of toys to play with. Locate screaming Baby V stuck under computer desk and rescue him. Give him a toy truck and all is forgiven.
12:45 pm- Feed the thee oldest girls, Baby Girl is in bed asleep, and sit down to comfort both the baby boys on the floor. See that Baby V is getting to be able to stand unsupported and am so proud of him!
1:00 pm- Have gotten Baby Boy fed and down for a nap and put Bruiser down for a nap she will likely refuse to take. Plan on letting her have a couple of hours of quiet time anyway. Less two year old throw-downs to deal with that way. Think it is time now to change Scrapper and Baby V’s diapers before going ahead and getting on with dishes that I STILL haven’t finished putting away. Sigh…
2:19 pm- Wow. I don’t know how else to describe the controlled chaos of the day so far. Baby V and Scrapper are now down for naps and I have surrendered to Bruiser’s hysterics yet again and she has been freed. Baby Boy is up and annoyed that I am not holding him (not that unusual) but I am hopeful now that he is in his bumbo that he might be happy.
2:26 pm- While on the phone with Hubby, who is now off work and on the way home, Boo Bear runs over to me crying and I automatically assume she and Bruiser have had an altercation. Wrong. She is tattling on a toy puzzle. Yeah, you heard me right, a toy puzzle. Have I created a tattle-telling monster??? Yes, yes I have.
2:39 pm- Have been going to check on Scrapper in five minute intervals as she doesn’t feel like napping today and thinks it is a great time to play with all the toys in Boo Bear’s room. Can’t blame her since there is A LOT of stuff to play with, but still have to be consistent and get her back in bed. Who needs a gym when you watch six kids under the age of five?
3:00 pm- Let the Evening Madness commence! Baby V is screaming for baby food, Baby Boy is screaming because he is tired and won’t sleep, Boo Bear and Bruiser start to fight over the toy stroller, and Baby Girl just wanders around trying to poke the babies in the eyes. Ahhh!!!
3:40 pm- Hubby home, Baby V fed and happy, Baby Boy passed out in his chair, and my three girls are playing or in timeout depending on the moment. Time to get on with the laundry section of the day… only 8 hours behind schedule!
4:00 pm- Sit on floor and fold laundry while we sing Patty Cake Patty Cake, Wheels on the Bus, Ittsy Bittsy Spider, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Baby V sits and smiles and claps for every song and is super happy!
4:30 pm- Snacks for all the awake kids… check. One of two loads of laundry folded or on hangers… check. Hubby has damaged himself again… big check! Now to get first load of laundry put away and dinner started up… Chicken Baked Steak with Homemade Mashed Potatoes. Woo Hoo!
9:20 pm- Have survived making dinner, serving dinner, bathing kids, changing sheets on all the beds, getting kids in pajamas and in bed, and getting laundry folded, hung, and put away. Am EXHAUSTED and feel a long night of sleep is a well deserved super duper idea! Goodnight to all!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Parks and "oh poop"
6/26/2009
6:30 am- Decide to get up because Baby Boy is soaked from diaper and bring pillows out to front room intending to lay down once he is cleaned up. Do the morning email, Facebook, and Blogger checks and it is too early for anyone to be up for anything interesting to read.
6:35 am- Bruiser staggers out of her room and announces “poop poop” and I bring her over to lay next to Baby Boy to change her pull-up. Decide not to bother with the potty yet because a piece of it is missing and I don’t feel like trying to sift through house to locate it.
6:40 am- Turn on t.v. and find “My Friends Tigger and Pooh” for Bruiser to watch while she eats an apple and sit down to start recording day. Secretly wonder if my life is interesting to anyone besides self and decide it doesn’t matter so long as I am happy talking about it. Realize I am gross and head off to take shower while only half of kids are up and happy simultaneously.
7:00 am- Get up… check. Take shower… check. Brush teeth and hair… check. Step on scale and have lost another pound but am not happy for some reason… check. Spend ten minutes trying to find clothes that are now two sizes too big and finally get dressed… check.
7:05 am- Boo Bear comes to find me and remind me that I promised we would go to the park today before even saying good morning. I confirm I gave her that promise. Take look in mirror and realize I have more grey hair than most grandmothers and start thinking about how much it will cost to get hair colored and what color I want this time. Get frustrated and go to front room to write some more before starting the day.
7:14 am- Catch Bruiser in kitchen climbing onto “naughty chair” trying to get hands on goldfish crackers and threaten life. Bruiser cries really loud and wakes up Baby Girl.
7:17 am- Love on grumpy morning person Baby Girl and kiss her soft cheek. Notice Bruiser playing a dangerous game of peek-a-boo with Baby Boy and find it sweet and scary and tell her to stop.
7:20 am- Catch Bruiser ripping up “My Little Pony” book and get really mad. Send her to corner. Boo Bear complains about a “grumbling tummy” and Bruiser starts crying out “EAT EAT” from the corner to support Boo Bear.
7:25 am- Watch Baby Girl stagger around like a drunk because she has no balance from her middle ears being all messed up. Get angry that she won’t see ENT until late July and know there is nothing I can do about it.
8:00 am- Have fed older two cereal and Baby Girl some Lemon Pie yogurt. Notice she is eating a little less today but was able to get her to say “all done” when she wants down. Get all the cups and bottles set up for the day and Baby Boy starts to complain.
8:10 am- Have Baby Boy asleep in arms after tiny battle that I won.
8:40 am- Am sitting around because of sleeping baby and realize I need to: call WIC, call EFMP, visit Navy college, call in antibiotics refill and pick up, and pay Star Card, Time Warner, and Dentist House bills. Wow.
8:44 am- Watch as Bruiser does a “magic show” for Baby Girl that goes like this:
Bruiser puts weebles in weeble car and drops them to the floor with loud sound.
Baby Girl says “uh oh”.
Bruiser says “tah dah!”
Baby Girl claps.
Bruiser says “thank you, thank you” as she bows.
8:53 am- Baby Boy now awake. Find it noteworthy to mention both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson are dead as of yesterday and think Farrah got screwed out of her time in the spotlight by Jackson.
9:15 am- Set out shrimp to thaw for dinner tonight (Curry-Dusted Shrimp with Mango-Ginger Sauce, rice, and vegetables out of the Weight Watchers cookbook Hubby bought me) and think I am awesome.
9:30 am- Daddy V arrives to drop off Scrapper and Baby V and announces he has forgotten diaper bag. I then inform that I have two diapers left myself and he runs to Wal-Mart asap.
10:00 am- Diapers are here and Daddy V has left so I am now running the ship of all six kids. It doesn’t take long for WWE to start up between the two year olds and I decide it is time to go to the park since there is a Relief Society play date now.
10:45 am- Have walked with all six kids to the park with
a) Baby Boy in front carrier on me
b) Baby V in back seat of stroller and Baby Girl in front seat
c) Scrapper and Bruiser holding on each side of stroller and walking
d) And Boo Bear walks freely as long as she listens well
11:00 am- Let kids run around park and end up not even getting to visit or get to know other moms because I am on kid patrol constantly doing head counts.
11:30 am- Am tired and all the other moms are leaving so I get the grumpy babies all set up in carrier and stroller, then bribe older three with a donut each for the walk home.
11:35 am- Just getting started on walk home and a mother and father are pushing their one child in a stroller toward us. Sidewalk is tiny and they pull off to the side to let us all pass. As we pass, woman says “Let me guess, you must be a child care provider.” To which I reply “Well, a couple of them aren’t mine, but four of them are.” And she says “Oh, I’m sorry.” and walks off with husband who then starts in on her that he “wants one more child still” and I pick up the pace to get away from them. C R E E P Y and rude.
11:45 am- Realize I need to get creative and make walk interesting for kids so have them count every road we have to cross and name off colors of cars we pass. Surprisingly have a much more fun walk on way back then way to park because of games.
12:00 pm- Am finally home with all six kids in tact and not run over by any vehicles and Mommy V arrives. So I get lunch made and served while she loves Baby V and Scrapper.
1:00ish pm- Have put down Bruiser, Baby Girl, and Baby V while Boo Bear and Scrapper play and Baby Boy sleeps on my arms. Decide to watch pre-recorded shows of “Mystery Diagnosis” with Mommy V and marvel at stories while Mommy V gets bored.
3:00ish pm- Scrapper is down for nap now and Baby Boy is STILL asleep so I continue to watch “Mystery Diagnosis” as Daddy V comes and goes and Hubby arrives just to take off with Daddy V to go to the store. AM ANNOYED AT HUBBY.
4:30 pm- Time to start dinner now and am excited to see how it tastes when it is complete and V Family leaves for their home.
5:00 pm- Hubby announces he wants to get me a present and thinks after the week (and especially day since it was supposed to be a day off) that he wants to go get it now. I permit it since he promises to pay back credit card on the first and he takes three oldest kids with him.
5:30 pm- Have served up everyone’s plates so I set up Baby Boy in highchair and have a quiet dinner by myself and share mango sauce with him, which he LOVES. Have officially given Baby Boy homemade baby food for first time by letting him taste little bits off of my finger.
5:45 pm- Family returns from store and I sit kids down to eat and Hubby unleashes AWESOME and expensive gifts…
5:50 pm- Am looking over the PS3 “Legend of Spyro Dawn of the Dragons” and BlackJack II phone (pretty much a blackberry!) that Hubby got me just because he loves me and wanted to thank me for all the hard work I put in around here. Love Hubby soooo much!
7:00 pm- Kids are in bath and Hubby is taking care of things while I get to write and look over new toys. Hubby tells me that for someone who couldn’t cook anything but Hamburger Helper when we got married, I have turned into an awesome cook and feel loved and accomplished.
7:10 pm- Am exhausted and so looking forward to weekend off work.
7:30 pm- Squeal like giddy little school girl when I open the box and take out my new phone. Help get Baby Girl diapered and dressed for bed after bath lay her down. Wait a few minutes for her fall asleep before running her feeding pump and hooking her up.
7:45 pm- Am at computer and Hubby is playing a new game on PS3 while Boo Bear sits on couch to watch. Hubby dies in game and M goes “oh crap” and Hubby and I’s mouths hit the floor. We then explain to her that that word is only for mommies and daddies and that she can say “oh poop” and she says “OK, I will try that now!”
7:50 pm- M yells out “oh poop!” and we laugh.
8:00 pm- Hook up Baby Girl to pump and decide it is time to talk to mom on phone.
6:30 am- Decide to get up because Baby Boy is soaked from diaper and bring pillows out to front room intending to lay down once he is cleaned up. Do the morning email, Facebook, and Blogger checks and it is too early for anyone to be up for anything interesting to read.
6:35 am- Bruiser staggers out of her room and announces “poop poop” and I bring her over to lay next to Baby Boy to change her pull-up. Decide not to bother with the potty yet because a piece of it is missing and I don’t feel like trying to sift through house to locate it.
6:40 am- Turn on t.v. and find “My Friends Tigger and Pooh” for Bruiser to watch while she eats an apple and sit down to start recording day. Secretly wonder if my life is interesting to anyone besides self and decide it doesn’t matter so long as I am happy talking about it. Realize I am gross and head off to take shower while only half of kids are up and happy simultaneously.
7:00 am- Get up… check. Take shower… check. Brush teeth and hair… check. Step on scale and have lost another pound but am not happy for some reason… check. Spend ten minutes trying to find clothes that are now two sizes too big and finally get dressed… check.
7:05 am- Boo Bear comes to find me and remind me that I promised we would go to the park today before even saying good morning. I confirm I gave her that promise. Take look in mirror and realize I have more grey hair than most grandmothers and start thinking about how much it will cost to get hair colored and what color I want this time. Get frustrated and go to front room to write some more before starting the day.
7:14 am- Catch Bruiser in kitchen climbing onto “naughty chair” trying to get hands on goldfish crackers and threaten life. Bruiser cries really loud and wakes up Baby Girl.
7:17 am- Love on grumpy morning person Baby Girl and kiss her soft cheek. Notice Bruiser playing a dangerous game of peek-a-boo with Baby Boy and find it sweet and scary and tell her to stop.
7:20 am- Catch Bruiser ripping up “My Little Pony” book and get really mad. Send her to corner. Boo Bear complains about a “grumbling tummy” and Bruiser starts crying out “EAT EAT” from the corner to support Boo Bear.
7:25 am- Watch Baby Girl stagger around like a drunk because she has no balance from her middle ears being all messed up. Get angry that she won’t see ENT until late July and know there is nothing I can do about it.
8:00 am- Have fed older two cereal and Baby Girl some Lemon Pie yogurt. Notice she is eating a little less today but was able to get her to say “all done” when she wants down. Get all the cups and bottles set up for the day and Baby Boy starts to complain.
8:10 am- Have Baby Boy asleep in arms after tiny battle that I won.
8:40 am- Am sitting around because of sleeping baby and realize I need to: call WIC, call EFMP, visit Navy college, call in antibiotics refill and pick up, and pay Star Card, Time Warner, and Dentist House bills. Wow.
8:44 am- Watch as Bruiser does a “magic show” for Baby Girl that goes like this:
Bruiser puts weebles in weeble car and drops them to the floor with loud sound.
Baby Girl says “uh oh”.
Bruiser says “tah dah!”
Baby Girl claps.
Bruiser says “thank you, thank you” as she bows.
8:53 am- Baby Boy now awake. Find it noteworthy to mention both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson are dead as of yesterday and think Farrah got screwed out of her time in the spotlight by Jackson.
9:15 am- Set out shrimp to thaw for dinner tonight (Curry-Dusted Shrimp with Mango-Ginger Sauce, rice, and vegetables out of the Weight Watchers cookbook Hubby bought me) and think I am awesome.
9:30 am- Daddy V arrives to drop off Scrapper and Baby V and announces he has forgotten diaper bag. I then inform that I have two diapers left myself and he runs to Wal-Mart asap.
10:00 am- Diapers are here and Daddy V has left so I am now running the ship of all six kids. It doesn’t take long for WWE to start up between the two year olds and I decide it is time to go to the park since there is a Relief Society play date now.
10:45 am- Have walked with all six kids to the park with
a) Baby Boy in front carrier on me
b) Baby V in back seat of stroller and Baby Girl in front seat
c) Scrapper and Bruiser holding on each side of stroller and walking
d) And Boo Bear walks freely as long as she listens well
11:00 am- Let kids run around park and end up not even getting to visit or get to know other moms because I am on kid patrol constantly doing head counts.
11:30 am- Am tired and all the other moms are leaving so I get the grumpy babies all set up in carrier and stroller, then bribe older three with a donut each for the walk home.
11:35 am- Just getting started on walk home and a mother and father are pushing their one child in a stroller toward us. Sidewalk is tiny and they pull off to the side to let us all pass. As we pass, woman says “Let me guess, you must be a child care provider.” To which I reply “Well, a couple of them aren’t mine, but four of them are.” And she says “Oh, I’m sorry.” and walks off with husband who then starts in on her that he “wants one more child still” and I pick up the pace to get away from them. C R E E P Y and rude.
11:45 am- Realize I need to get creative and make walk interesting for kids so have them count every road we have to cross and name off colors of cars we pass. Surprisingly have a much more fun walk on way back then way to park because of games.
12:00 pm- Am finally home with all six kids in tact and not run over by any vehicles and Mommy V arrives. So I get lunch made and served while she loves Baby V and Scrapper.
1:00ish pm- Have put down Bruiser, Baby Girl, and Baby V while Boo Bear and Scrapper play and Baby Boy sleeps on my arms. Decide to watch pre-recorded shows of “Mystery Diagnosis” with Mommy V and marvel at stories while Mommy V gets bored.
3:00ish pm- Scrapper is down for nap now and Baby Boy is STILL asleep so I continue to watch “Mystery Diagnosis” as Daddy V comes and goes and Hubby arrives just to take off with Daddy V to go to the store. AM ANNOYED AT HUBBY.
4:30 pm- Time to start dinner now and am excited to see how it tastes when it is complete and V Family leaves for their home.
5:00 pm- Hubby announces he wants to get me a present and thinks after the week (and especially day since it was supposed to be a day off) that he wants to go get it now. I permit it since he promises to pay back credit card on the first and he takes three oldest kids with him.
5:30 pm- Have served up everyone’s plates so I set up Baby Boy in highchair and have a quiet dinner by myself and share mango sauce with him, which he LOVES. Have officially given Baby Boy homemade baby food for first time by letting him taste little bits off of my finger.
5:45 pm- Family returns from store and I sit kids down to eat and Hubby unleashes AWESOME and expensive gifts…
5:50 pm- Am looking over the PS3 “Legend of Spyro Dawn of the Dragons” and BlackJack II phone (pretty much a blackberry!) that Hubby got me just because he loves me and wanted to thank me for all the hard work I put in around here. Love Hubby soooo much!
7:00 pm- Kids are in bath and Hubby is taking care of things while I get to write and look over new toys. Hubby tells me that for someone who couldn’t cook anything but Hamburger Helper when we got married, I have turned into an awesome cook and feel loved and accomplished.
7:10 pm- Am exhausted and so looking forward to weekend off work.
7:30 pm- Squeal like giddy little school girl when I open the box and take out my new phone. Help get Baby Girl diapered and dressed for bed after bath lay her down. Wait a few minutes for her fall asleep before running her feeding pump and hooking her up.
7:45 pm- Am at computer and Hubby is playing a new game on PS3 while Boo Bear sits on couch to watch. Hubby dies in game and M goes “oh crap” and Hubby and I’s mouths hit the floor. We then explain to her that that word is only for mommies and daddies and that she can say “oh poop” and she says “OK, I will try that now!”
7:50 pm- M yells out “oh poop!” and we laugh.
8:00 pm- Hook up Baby Girl to pump and decide it is time to talk to mom on phone.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A Day in the Life of a Nae
So I LOVED what a friend of mine did yesterday. She posted what she did throughout her day and I have decided it might be interesting to share with others what a day in my life is really like. I mean, how often do you get to glance into a mom's day with four children ages four and under and then two more added in that she babysits that are also two and under? So, just for the fun of it... here is my day(warning, will be crazy long, but totally worth the five or so minutes to read through):
8:00 am- Chastise self for staying up until 11 pm the previous night and swear to do better tonight. Stop avoiding getting up and drag self out of bed to start checking on sleeping children. Find G is awake and watching cartoons (did Darryl leave the t.v. on for her this morning or did she actually learn to turn it on herself???) and has gotten herself an apple. Wonder how aforementioned apple was attained and find she dragged the "naughty chair" over to the counter to reach fruit bowl. Secretly compliment G in head for being resourceful as usual and wonder just how many apples she has eaten before I got up. hmmm...
8:10 am- Bring grumpy Z into front room and lay him on floor to stretch while I do the morning email, Facebook, and Blogger checks on computer. Hear E crying in crib (she is quite the grumpy morning person) and get off computer to go retrieve daughter. As I walk down hall with baby girl, M walks out of her bedroom door and we exchange "good morning" greetings. Z fusses some more.
8:30 am(ish)- Post on Facebook on intentions to be good and get housework caught up somewhat before friends bring over kids for me to babysit. Decide now is good time to take shower.
8:45 am- Shower and brush teeth... check! Get dressed... check! Tame unruly hair... check! Wonder when she will have a shower where kids are not trying to hold conversations during duration... shrug and go on with morning ritual.
9:00 am- Change three yucky diapers and think to self that G should be potty trained but dread the fight to keep her on potty while doing a million other things. Promise self that I will start the effort up again... later.
9:30 am- Have older two kids sitting at table eating breakfast while I feed E Boston Cream Pie yogurt and watch brain-numbing show "Imagination Movers". Love on baby girl and secretly rejoice that today is a good day for her because she is eating. Notice baby girl's sinus infection is coming back again and plan on refilling antibiotics for millionth time.
9:50 am- Sit down at computer to Facebook again and decide to do this blog. Z starts crying again so I try to comfort him.
10:20 am- Make bottle after failed attempt to comfort baby boy and start feeding him. Catch self thinking about all the things I could be getting done and realize baby boy is so sweet in arms as he falls asleep eating.
10:30 am- Am excited when "Phineas and Ferb" comes on t.v. because it is funny and the girls LOVE it. Watch baby girl try to feed herself remnants of G's yogurt cup with spoon turned upside down and laugh at the cuteness. Catch M jumping on bed and send her to corner.
10:34 am- M is surrounded by sisters who miss her during her looong four minute time out and go through the "why are you in time out" "because I (fill in the blank)..." then the "what will happen if you do it again?" "I will go back in time out" and finally the "that's right and now you have to apologize" routine.
10:47 am- Z asleep, M has said sorry and given hugs and kisses to G, am blogging again.
11:00 am- Put Z in bumbo since he has already woken back up and face chores. Turn off t.v. and realize I have pretty much accomplished nothing and other two kids will be here in one hour. Panic.
11:02 am- Scratch bumbo and try exersaucer instead. It works and he stops crying, yay hoo!
11:10 am- Make up bottles and sippy cups of the day for everyone. E's is her normal cocktail of Pediasure, 1 teaspoon Canola Oil, and 2 tablespoons rice cereal. Other two score milk since we bought more last night. Z's is already set up from earlier feeding. Okay, now let's start cleaning dishes.
11:28 am- Decide that the dishes and laundry have a master conspiracy plan against me to break my sanity and that it is working!
11:33 am- Z is fussing again. Scratch exersaucer and try swaddling and feeding again. Scratch swaddling and feeding and try putting him in highchair so he is able to look around better. Scratch that, give up and go out to get baby carrier out of van to put Z in.
11:45 am- Babysitting kids arrive and father realizes mother is off work and packs kids back up so I get an unplanned day off! Sadly, all my kids are heartbroken that other kids have to leave and I am kind of sad to not spend time with them also...
11:50 am- M asks to watch the "Jesus movie" from the Living Scriptures set we bought last night about Lazarus and Jesus. Am proud mother for a minute as I put the movie in.
12:00 pm- Alarm clock goes off reminding me to start lunch (a little trick I adopted after the third child was born when I could hardly remember what time it was for meals or naptimes) and I reset it for snack time at 3:00 pm. M informs me that she really wants chicken nuggets for lunch so I agree to that and set the oven.
12:02 pm- Feel guilty for feeding children food that is processed and high in saturated fats and promise self to add carrot sticks to lunch to feel a little bit better.
12:10 pm- Chicken in oven and now to dress the kids. Decide closet doors are in on conspiracy with dishes and laundry and want to cry some. Pull it together and dress all the kids.
12:15 pm- Discover laundry breeding grounds on bedroom floor and bathroom... cringe and start gathering. Chicken done and out of oven to cool down. Start dishwasher and think about how much I miss the one in our last place.
12:30 pm- Read "The Digging-est Dog" to M and think that the story is kind of sad.
12:50 pm- Feed kiddos lunch (chicken nuggets, string cheese, and fruit cup) and sit down to snack on turkey pepperoni because I hate eating real meals for some reason. Watch E love on Z and feel so blessed to have my kids.
12:59 pm- Z fussing again and I am suspicious he is in on conspiracy, then decide he wouldn't do such a thing... or would he?
1:06 pm- Z is asleep and the respite nurse is late to our appointment. G attempts to steal E's lunch and share her spoils with M. I put her in solitary confinement in her room and tell her to take a nap. She screams A LOT.
1:10 pm- Nurse Lady shows up for appointment and M goes off to play quietly in order to earn her "quiet time" sticker and popcorn for a reward snack (don't worry, it is fat free popcorn).
3:00 pm- Appointment done and night-time respite nursing is set up for E's night time feedings. We have had the worst time trying to get her feedings to work so this will be much needed respite. Notice G is STILL screaming. Decide to just give up on nap for the fifth day in a row and open door to TERRIBLE site...
3:05 pm- Am in bathroom where G is now in bathtub as I clean her diaper overload off of her and properly dispose of disaster site of pull-up. Notice that her poo poo is a mixture of dirt and crayons and wonder how a child is so willing to eat such things but is so disinterested in actual food when meal times come round. Believe G to be a weirdo and finish up cleaning her before sitting her down with M to have some (fat free) popcorn in a fresh pull-up and towel.
3:10 pm- FINALLY put E down for her nap 4 HOURS late because I forgot to during appointment. Feel like bad mom now.
3:25 pm- Z is fussing because I put him down to deal with the great pull-up disaster of 09'. Am annoyed and trying to think of ways to convince him I don't have to hold him since my lower back is making threats to spasm. Am nervous about back now.
3:30 pm- Time to put away clean dishes and load next set in dishwasher before it is time to start dinner. Am amazed at how little I can accomplished in an entire day and am annoyed at self. Then I realize Z is in on the conspiracy and decide it is his fault, but can't be upset because I love him...
3:35 pm- Pass by a mirror and think to self "for lossing 12 pounds, I sure still look pretty darn overweight" and promise that I will hit the gym to start back up on 5k training and do some serious crunches or something to deal with the post-pregnancy stomach issue. Feel disgusted.
3:40 pm- D calls to let me know he has Floam for the kids to play with when he gets home and that he is off work and on his way home. Am grumpy and tell him I don't want to talk right now so that I am not mean to him. He agrees to the plan and phone call ends. Decide to render children helpless by putting in "Wow Wow Wubzy" for them to watch and sit down to blog before attacking kitchen again.
3:54 pm- D calls back to inform me that there has been a motorcycle accident on the Coronado bridge and not to expect him for a long time. Figure that gives me that much longer to get somewhat caught up before starting dinner. yippy
3:55 pm- As I walk into the kitchen, cell phone rings and it is the speech and occupational therapy people calling to make E's evaluation appointments. Am ecstatic because she needs these therapies so much. Appointment is made for tomorrow at 1:30 pm.
4:15 pm- Off phone and D walks in door. Ask him if he was playing a trick with last call and he says he got faulty information. D takes older two kids outside to play with Floam and I am AGAIN going to attempt to go get dishes put away. How did I get this far into the day and get so little done?
4:30 pm- D sits down with Z to keep him quiet for the first time today and decides it is prime time for playing some Lego's Star Wars on the PS3. I talk at him as I do dishes at about a mile a minute. He even pretends to pay attention.
5:00 pm- Have noticed that girls have lost interest in making sea horses with Floam and are now doing bad things to it and call them in. Go outside to survey Floam massacre and do my best at recovering the casualties. Laugh to self on my morbid sense of humor.
5:15 pm- Rescue baby girl from crib prison and shower her with hugs and kisses as she recovers from her grumpy mood she has after naps. Have put a sizable dent in dishes and after baby girl cuddles are done will begin cooking up our tacos.
5:30 pm- Start dinner so that I can go back to finishing up evil dishes that are plotting my demise...
5:45 pm- Finally get dinner on the stove and cooking and look back on a day with hardly anything to congratulate self on. Smile because I can hear “Phineas and Ferb” on the t.v. and I know D was the one who turned it on for him to watch on the sly.
6:00 pm- Read “Hop on Pop” and “My Little Ponies” to M and G. Decide to face the last of the dishes and drag feet to kitchen.
6:30 pm- Am exhausted and sit down to eat dinner and watch a recording of “Mystery Diagnosis” and cry for sad stories. Find out that new ward Relief Society has a Lady’s Night Out and D INSISTS I go and start meeting people.
7:00 pm- Get brave and leave for R.S. night out…
11:00 pm- Sneak into house after an AWESOME night out meeting the women in my new ward. Have decided that I will never ever go to bed before 11 pm no matter how much I intend on it and don’t care because tonight was totally worth it! Wonder if I had too much word vomit and think I will obsess over it for a few minutes before surrendering to my exhaustion.
11:30 pm- Post this blog and drag self to comfy bed with sleeping husband and baby boy and call it a night after a “thank you” prayer. Send love and hugs to all my wonderful family and friends…
8:00 am- Chastise self for staying up until 11 pm the previous night and swear to do better tonight. Stop avoiding getting up and drag self out of bed to start checking on sleeping children. Find G is awake and watching cartoons (did Darryl leave the t.v. on for her this morning or did she actually learn to turn it on herself???) and has gotten herself an apple. Wonder how aforementioned apple was attained and find she dragged the "naughty chair" over to the counter to reach fruit bowl. Secretly compliment G in head for being resourceful as usual and wonder just how many apples she has eaten before I got up. hmmm...
8:10 am- Bring grumpy Z into front room and lay him on floor to stretch while I do the morning email, Facebook, and Blogger checks on computer. Hear E crying in crib (she is quite the grumpy morning person) and get off computer to go retrieve daughter. As I walk down hall with baby girl, M walks out of her bedroom door and we exchange "good morning" greetings. Z fusses some more.
8:30 am(ish)- Post on Facebook on intentions to be good and get housework caught up somewhat before friends bring over kids for me to babysit. Decide now is good time to take shower.
8:45 am- Shower and brush teeth... check! Get dressed... check! Tame unruly hair... check! Wonder when she will have a shower where kids are not trying to hold conversations during duration... shrug and go on with morning ritual.
9:00 am- Change three yucky diapers and think to self that G should be potty trained but dread the fight to keep her on potty while doing a million other things. Promise self that I will start the effort up again... later.
9:30 am- Have older two kids sitting at table eating breakfast while I feed E Boston Cream Pie yogurt and watch brain-numbing show "Imagination Movers". Love on baby girl and secretly rejoice that today is a good day for her because she is eating. Notice baby girl's sinus infection is coming back again and plan on refilling antibiotics for millionth time.
9:50 am- Sit down at computer to Facebook again and decide to do this blog. Z starts crying again so I try to comfort him.
10:20 am- Make bottle after failed attempt to comfort baby boy and start feeding him. Catch self thinking about all the things I could be getting done and realize baby boy is so sweet in arms as he falls asleep eating.
10:30 am- Am excited when "Phineas and Ferb" comes on t.v. because it is funny and the girls LOVE it. Watch baby girl try to feed herself remnants of G's yogurt cup with spoon turned upside down and laugh at the cuteness. Catch M jumping on bed and send her to corner.
10:34 am- M is surrounded by sisters who miss her during her looong four minute time out and go through the "why are you in time out" "because I (fill in the blank)..." then the "what will happen if you do it again?" "I will go back in time out" and finally the "that's right and now you have to apologize" routine.
10:47 am- Z asleep, M has said sorry and given hugs and kisses to G, am blogging again.
11:00 am- Put Z in bumbo since he has already woken back up and face chores. Turn off t.v. and realize I have pretty much accomplished nothing and other two kids will be here in one hour. Panic.
11:02 am- Scratch bumbo and try exersaucer instead. It works and he stops crying, yay hoo!
11:10 am- Make up bottles and sippy cups of the day for everyone. E's is her normal cocktail of Pediasure, 1 teaspoon Canola Oil, and 2 tablespoons rice cereal. Other two score milk since we bought more last night. Z's is already set up from earlier feeding. Okay, now let's start cleaning dishes.
11:28 am- Decide that the dishes and laundry have a master conspiracy plan against me to break my sanity and that it is working!
11:33 am- Z is fussing again. Scratch exersaucer and try swaddling and feeding again. Scratch swaddling and feeding and try putting him in highchair so he is able to look around better. Scratch that, give up and go out to get baby carrier out of van to put Z in.
11:45 am- Babysitting kids arrive and father realizes mother is off work and packs kids back up so I get an unplanned day off! Sadly, all my kids are heartbroken that other kids have to leave and I am kind of sad to not spend time with them also...
11:50 am- M asks to watch the "Jesus movie" from the Living Scriptures set we bought last night about Lazarus and Jesus. Am proud mother for a minute as I put the movie in.
12:00 pm- Alarm clock goes off reminding me to start lunch (a little trick I adopted after the third child was born when I could hardly remember what time it was for meals or naptimes) and I reset it for snack time at 3:00 pm. M informs me that she really wants chicken nuggets for lunch so I agree to that and set the oven.
12:02 pm- Feel guilty for feeding children food that is processed and high in saturated fats and promise self to add carrot sticks to lunch to feel a little bit better.
12:10 pm- Chicken in oven and now to dress the kids. Decide closet doors are in on conspiracy with dishes and laundry and want to cry some. Pull it together and dress all the kids.
12:15 pm- Discover laundry breeding grounds on bedroom floor and bathroom... cringe and start gathering. Chicken done and out of oven to cool down. Start dishwasher and think about how much I miss the one in our last place.
12:30 pm- Read "The Digging-est Dog" to M and think that the story is kind of sad.
12:50 pm- Feed kiddos lunch (chicken nuggets, string cheese, and fruit cup) and sit down to snack on turkey pepperoni because I hate eating real meals for some reason. Watch E love on Z and feel so blessed to have my kids.
12:59 pm- Z fussing again and I am suspicious he is in on conspiracy, then decide he wouldn't do such a thing... or would he?
1:06 pm- Z is asleep and the respite nurse is late to our appointment. G attempts to steal E's lunch and share her spoils with M. I put her in solitary confinement in her room and tell her to take a nap. She screams A LOT.
1:10 pm- Nurse Lady shows up for appointment and M goes off to play quietly in order to earn her "quiet time" sticker and popcorn for a reward snack (don't worry, it is fat free popcorn).
3:00 pm- Appointment done and night-time respite nursing is set up for E's night time feedings. We have had the worst time trying to get her feedings to work so this will be much needed respite. Notice G is STILL screaming. Decide to just give up on nap for the fifth day in a row and open door to TERRIBLE site...
3:05 pm- Am in bathroom where G is now in bathtub as I clean her diaper overload off of her and properly dispose of disaster site of pull-up. Notice that her poo poo is a mixture of dirt and crayons and wonder how a child is so willing to eat such things but is so disinterested in actual food when meal times come round. Believe G to be a weirdo and finish up cleaning her before sitting her down with M to have some (fat free) popcorn in a fresh pull-up and towel.
3:10 pm- FINALLY put E down for her nap 4 HOURS late because I forgot to during appointment. Feel like bad mom now.
3:25 pm- Z is fussing because I put him down to deal with the great pull-up disaster of 09'. Am annoyed and trying to think of ways to convince him I don't have to hold him since my lower back is making threats to spasm. Am nervous about back now.
3:30 pm- Time to put away clean dishes and load next set in dishwasher before it is time to start dinner. Am amazed at how little I can accomplished in an entire day and am annoyed at self. Then I realize Z is in on the conspiracy and decide it is his fault, but can't be upset because I love him...
3:35 pm- Pass by a mirror and think to self "for lossing 12 pounds, I sure still look pretty darn overweight" and promise that I will hit the gym to start back up on 5k training and do some serious crunches or something to deal with the post-pregnancy stomach issue. Feel disgusted.
3:40 pm- D calls to let me know he has Floam for the kids to play with when he gets home and that he is off work and on his way home. Am grumpy and tell him I don't want to talk right now so that I am not mean to him. He agrees to the plan and phone call ends. Decide to render children helpless by putting in "Wow Wow Wubzy" for them to watch and sit down to blog before attacking kitchen again.
3:54 pm- D calls back to inform me that there has been a motorcycle accident on the Coronado bridge and not to expect him for a long time. Figure that gives me that much longer to get somewhat caught up before starting dinner. yippy
3:55 pm- As I walk into the kitchen, cell phone rings and it is the speech and occupational therapy people calling to make E's evaluation appointments. Am ecstatic because she needs these therapies so much. Appointment is made for tomorrow at 1:30 pm.
4:15 pm- Off phone and D walks in door. Ask him if he was playing a trick with last call and he says he got faulty information. D takes older two kids outside to play with Floam and I am AGAIN going to attempt to go get dishes put away. How did I get this far into the day and get so little done?
4:30 pm- D sits down with Z to keep him quiet for the first time today and decides it is prime time for playing some Lego's Star Wars on the PS3. I talk at him as I do dishes at about a mile a minute. He even pretends to pay attention.
5:00 pm- Have noticed that girls have lost interest in making sea horses with Floam and are now doing bad things to it and call them in. Go outside to survey Floam massacre and do my best at recovering the casualties. Laugh to self on my morbid sense of humor.
5:15 pm- Rescue baby girl from crib prison and shower her with hugs and kisses as she recovers from her grumpy mood she has after naps. Have put a sizable dent in dishes and after baby girl cuddles are done will begin cooking up our tacos.
5:30 pm- Start dinner so that I can go back to finishing up evil dishes that are plotting my demise...
5:45 pm- Finally get dinner on the stove and cooking and look back on a day with hardly anything to congratulate self on. Smile because I can hear “Phineas and Ferb” on the t.v. and I know D was the one who turned it on for him to watch on the sly.
6:00 pm- Read “Hop on Pop” and “My Little Ponies” to M and G. Decide to face the last of the dishes and drag feet to kitchen.
6:30 pm- Am exhausted and sit down to eat dinner and watch a recording of “Mystery Diagnosis” and cry for sad stories. Find out that new ward Relief Society has a Lady’s Night Out and D INSISTS I go and start meeting people.
7:00 pm- Get brave and leave for R.S. night out…
11:00 pm- Sneak into house after an AWESOME night out meeting the women in my new ward. Have decided that I will never ever go to bed before 11 pm no matter how much I intend on it and don’t care because tonight was totally worth it! Wonder if I had too much word vomit and think I will obsess over it for a few minutes before surrendering to my exhaustion.
11:30 pm- Post this blog and drag self to comfy bed with sleeping husband and baby boy and call it a night after a “thank you” prayer. Send love and hugs to all my wonderful family and friends…
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Through the Eyes of a Desert Girl
Through these eyes, the ocean is an amazing, beautiful, and overwhelmingly scary thing. I have always taken in an ocean of brown dotted with sage brush and mountains peaked with white snow in July, but this is something my eyes are learning for the first time. And I am looking forward to it completely.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
And We're Off...
to San Diego in only two weeks time! We have been trying to get moved somewhere that has the level of medical care needed for Elizabeth and we recieved the phone call this morning. We are to check out of this command by the last day of May and are due to check in to our next one no later than June 26th. So, we are in for a whirlwind over the next two weeks getting our place packed and scrubbed and ready to leave. Wow. Here we go.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
"The Special Mother"
The Special Mother
by Erma Bombeck
Did you ever wonder how mothers of disabled children were chosen?
Somehow I visualize God hovering over the earth selecting his instruments of propagation with great care and deliberation. As He observes, He instructs His angels to make notes in a giant ledger.
"This one gets a daughter. The Patron saint will be Cecelia"
"This one gets twins. The Patron saint will be Matthew"
"This one gets a son. The Patron saint.....give her Gerard. He's used to profanity"
Finally He passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a disabled child".
The angel is curious. "Why this one God? She's so happy"
"Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a disabled child to a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel!"
"But has she patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of sorrow and despair. Once the shock and resentment wears off, she'll handle it. I watched her today, she has that feeling of self and independence that is so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has his own world. She has to make him live in her world and that's not going to be easy."
"But Lord, I don't think she even believes in you"
God smiles, "No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect - she has just enough selfishness"
The angel gasps - "Selfishness? is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally she won't survive. Yes here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a 'spoken word'. She will never consider any 'step' ordinary. When her child says "Momma" for the first time she will be present at a miracle and will know it. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see...ignorance, cruelty and prejudice...and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as if she is here by my side"
"And what about her Patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in mid air.
God smiles "A mirror will suffice"
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Week 4 and some perspective
Well, week four is coming to a close and it has been a very inward-looking week for me. First off, I want to put down what this week's workout is and then go from there- jog 3 min., walk 1:30, jog 5, walk 2:30, jog 3, walk 1:30, jog 5
Okay, for some of you out there, this doesn't look too tough, but let me tell you something... IT IS HARD. When I first started this whole thing I thought the 1:30 minute jogging was tough and here I am jogging for 5 minutes straight! That is amazing to me and shows just how far you can come in a relatively short amount of time. But in order to do something like that, you have to be creative with what motivates you through it when you just want to collapse. I found some things that surprised me.
First on the list, I had to find music that would push and pull me through the tougher parts. After thinking back on my favorite kinds of music and what those songs made me feel, I realized that I needed to listen to Lincoln Park. Not some upbeat cardio-class music, but something a little more gritty and LOUD and emotional. It worked great and I was able to just go straight through that three and five and three and five minutes because of it. Then I had to think of something to get me through when I would feel tired or have a stitch in my side or ribs and I decided to do visualization. When I was begining to feel overwhelmed, I would just envision that I was actually in a pool swimming. I would move through the breast stroke and let myself feel the water and the rhythm of the stroke. I would envision the power and strength I feel when I am in that pool and then suddenly, I was feeling stronger and more able to get through that run. I was reading an article not long ago about the power of visualization and thought it was really a great idea. The writer explained that almost all Olympians use visualization before they compete. Sounded good to me and when I did it while I was running instead of before, it was very effective. Lastly, I really thought about why on earth this came to mind as something I want to do so badly. I thought about what makes me look forward to this every other day of the week that I do it and makes me want it enough to strength train in between those jogging days. Here is what I came up with:
I AM NOT PREGNANT ANYMORE. There. Okay, it is a little bit deeper, but not much. Over the last five years of my marriage (that is 65 months), I have been pregnant a total of 3 years, 2 months (or 38 months). To be more specific, I was pregnant the 9 1/2 months with M, when she was 13 months old I became pregnant with G. I did my 9 1/2 months with G and by the time she was 3 months old, I was unknowingly pregnant with E. I did my 9 1/2 months with E and she was born with a genetic condition that no one could figure out for a long time. When E was seven months old, I became pregnant with Z and did my 9 1/2 months with him while in the hospital with Elizabeth quite a few different times. So, tally it all up and you have the four months I was married that I wasn't pregnant yet, the 13 months between pregnancies with M and G, the three months between G and E, the seven months between E and Z, and the two months since Z was born that I WASN'T pregnant. Since I got married November 29th, 2003, I have been unpregnant a total of only 29 out of 65 months. That is A LOT of being pregnant for a five year old marriage and it also means that over the last five years, my body has belonged to my unborn children with everything I ate or did. Nothing I did was allowed to put strain of any kind without a feeling of "oh crap, what if that hurts the baby?", so I would just tell myself to wait it out until I wasn't pregnant anymore.
That time is NOW. I am not pregnant and for the first time in my life I won't be getting pregnant ever again. I can do things with my body for myself that are challenging and exciting without worrying about my baby's well being or getting it going just to have it undone once I am pregnant again. So, doesn't it make sense to start my unpregnant chapter with a BANG and run a 5k? It does to me. It makes A TON of sense to prove to myself that I can do something good without it involving being an incubator to a beautiful baby. I need to feel good about my body and be a good example to my babies on exercise and healthy eating. So here I am, finding anything motivational and exciting to push me through the tough spots because this means so much more to me than a run, it means the beginning of my belonging to me and me alone. A wife and friend, a mother of four of the most wonderful children in the world, and a LaNae that can do anything she sets her mind to. That is what a 5k means to me.
Friday, April 10, 2009
What I Have Been Up To...
I didn't want to post about this until I stuck with it long enough to convince myself I really was going to do it... I am training myself to run a 5k! I have always been a natural swimmer and after my last baby I did swimming and ballet and Weight Watchers and it worked amazingly. But circumstances change things and this time around, I don't have the money for the ballet and I don't feel like dealing with getting into my swim suit lol. So I had to think of something affordable (or completely free) that I could do to deal with my pregnancy weight and I decided it was time to do something I had always admired others for doing- marathons. I figured that weight loss would be a great side effect of the running but that my main focus would be on training for the run.
In order for me to do this, I had to find a program that was for someone starting from absolutely zero running and out-out-shapeness that could take me all the way to my first goal of a 5k (or 3 miles). So I went online and found this really great program called Couch to 5k (). It starts out so easy that even I can accomplish it lol. I also decided it was time to exercise with Darryl because I know how much he struggles with running and I really wanted a buddy in this process. And so I started two and a half weeks ago and I will finish my last run of week three today. I am actually up to just under a mile and a half in about 20 minutes so I am very proud of how far I have already come and that I haven't had to repeat a week yet. That is a prop to this program, it is for 9 weeks, but you can repeat weeks that challenge you too much until you feel ready to push forward.
I also decided that I really needed to get a handle on what I eat again. But just like the exercise issue of money, I couldn't afford to do Weight Watchers this time around that had worked sooo well for me before. That was when my mom turned me to Spark People. It is this completely free online weight and exercise tracking website. You can track everything you would with Weight Watchers but without spending a dime and I LOVE it. There is amazing support and it really has been working well for D and I over the last three weeks. It has been great for us to do and I have actually seen results even though my body is extremely stubborn right now since just having the baby when it comes to losing a single pound. But luckily I already decided that my main focus is on the running and not the weight because I would have given up already if it were about weight for sure. It took two whole weeks to see any progress AT ALL because I am only two months out from Z's birth and I breastfed until he was a month and a half old. So my body is very resistant to letting go of anything still. Oh well.
All in all, I have three goals with the training. My first goal that I am currently working on is to run a 5k in 30 minutes. My second will be to be able to run a half marathon. My third will be to start working on accomplishing a triathlon. That is my biggest goal and I am most excited about reaching this one because there is swimming involved. I love swimming so much that I actually take Saturdays off from the training to run or the strength training and I just swim. It is a very peaceful experience for me to swim and now I actually have a goal in the pool to reach 3 miles straight just like running. For those of you in the swimming world that is just under 1625 meters per mile (4825 for 3 miles!). My biggest challenge in the pool is that I have always done much better with breast stroke than free, so I will master in breast and then start working on free. All in all, I am working very hard toward something big and exciting that I never believed I could do before. Something in me wants to finally feel like I am the person I always knew I could be. I want to be in a body that is pregnancy free and able to do something else amazing.
Just to keep tabs on my progress, I will check in with what I have accomplished and what I am working on every week. So far I am doing week 3:
Jog 200 yards, walk 200 yards, jog 400 yards, walk 400 yards, and repeat once for a total of 1.36 miles or about 1 1/3 miles. This takes about 20 minutes. See, easy stuff (yeah right! lol). I will post next week on what I am doing. I am so excited! There is a 5k coming up here in Ridgecrest on May 2nd I am going to do no matter where I am in my training because it is a walk/run and I can finish it at a walk if needed.
In order for me to do this, I had to find a program that was for someone starting from absolutely zero running and out-out-shapeness that could take me all the way to my first goal of a 5k (or 3 miles). So I went online and found this really great program called Couch to 5k (). It starts out so easy that even I can accomplish it lol. I also decided it was time to exercise with Darryl because I know how much he struggles with running and I really wanted a buddy in this process. And so I started two and a half weeks ago and I will finish my last run of week three today. I am actually up to just under a mile and a half in about 20 minutes so I am very proud of how far I have already come and that I haven't had to repeat a week yet. That is a prop to this program, it is for 9 weeks, but you can repeat weeks that challenge you too much until you feel ready to push forward.
I also decided that I really needed to get a handle on what I eat again. But just like the exercise issue of money, I couldn't afford to do Weight Watchers this time around that had worked sooo well for me before. That was when my mom turned me to Spark People. It is this completely free online weight and exercise tracking website. You can track everything you would with Weight Watchers but without spending a dime and I LOVE it. There is amazing support and it really has been working well for D and I over the last three weeks. It has been great for us to do and I have actually seen results even though my body is extremely stubborn right now since just having the baby when it comes to losing a single pound. But luckily I already decided that my main focus is on the running and not the weight because I would have given up already if it were about weight for sure. It took two whole weeks to see any progress AT ALL because I am only two months out from Z's birth and I breastfed until he was a month and a half old. So my body is very resistant to letting go of anything still. Oh well.
All in all, I have three goals with the training. My first goal that I am currently working on is to run a 5k in 30 minutes. My second will be to be able to run a half marathon. My third will be to start working on accomplishing a triathlon. That is my biggest goal and I am most excited about reaching this one because there is swimming involved. I love swimming so much that I actually take Saturdays off from the training to run or the strength training and I just swim. It is a very peaceful experience for me to swim and now I actually have a goal in the pool to reach 3 miles straight just like running. For those of you in the swimming world that is just under 1625 meters per mile (4825 for 3 miles!). My biggest challenge in the pool is that I have always done much better with breast stroke than free, so I will master in breast and then start working on free. All in all, I am working very hard toward something big and exciting that I never believed I could do before. Something in me wants to finally feel like I am the person I always knew I could be. I want to be in a body that is pregnancy free and able to do something else amazing.
Just to keep tabs on my progress, I will check in with what I have accomplished and what I am working on every week. So far I am doing week 3:
Jog 200 yards, walk 200 yards, jog 400 yards, walk 400 yards, and repeat once for a total of 1.36 miles or about 1 1/3 miles. This takes about 20 minutes. See, easy stuff (yeah right! lol). I will post next week on what I am doing. I am so excited! There is a 5k coming up here in Ridgecrest on May 2nd I am going to do no matter where I am in my training because it is a walk/run and I can finish it at a walk if needed.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Guess who's WALKING???!!!
E! It took her about five months longer than the norm, but she is doing awesome and we are so proud of her! She is very bowlegged so it is pretty cute to see her teetering around these days. Unfortunately, she has also learned how to express frustration in a new and loud way. She has learned to scream and yell instead of cry and she does it well and very loudly. Not so cute, but she is speech delayed and it has to be irritating for her to not be able to use words to communicate. I am considering for the first time with one of my kids teaching sign and just continuing it with Z. At least then she won't be screeching at us all the time when she doesn't like something or wants something from us. Our computer is still having emotional problems with the camera, so I will get pictures posted of our walking girl and our other cuties as well once I figure something out.
On a "you have to be kidding me" note, our computer was hacked and our TurboTax information stolen off of it. As those of you who file taxes know, your entire family's social security numbers, address, phone number, full names, and (for direct depositing) bank account information is on your taxes. So, to put it simply, I had A LOT of stuff I had to do to protect us. As a note to try and protect all my friends and family out there, DO NOT use LimeWire for downloads. We made that mistake and it was only by the grace of God that the man who did it had a bought of conscience and called to tell us and turn himself into the police. Please protect yourselves and I send my love!
On a "you have to be kidding me" note, our computer was hacked and our TurboTax information stolen off of it. As those of you who file taxes know, your entire family's social security numbers, address, phone number, full names, and (for direct depositing) bank account information is on your taxes. So, to put it simply, I had A LOT of stuff I had to do to protect us. As a note to try and protect all my friends and family out there, DO NOT use LimeWire for downloads. We made that mistake and it was only by the grace of God that the man who did it had a bought of conscience and called to tell us and turn himself into the police. Please protect yourselves and I send my love!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
After Relief Comes Reality
So the relief of a diagnoses has begun to subside and the reality of the diagnoses is beggining to sink in. I pushed and pushed through the last 16 months of E's life to reach the point when all her health issues would make sense and I would be validated. It has happened now and I can say that she has VCFS aka Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome and partial DiGeorge Syndrome and it explains intricately every health problem she has ever had. It is a good feeling to know she will be able to get SSI and MediCal and that we will finally qualify for the assistance that we need in order to get her the medical care she needs. But then there is the pain of knowing that your precious child has a chromosomal disorder that is irreversible and permanent. My baby girl is considered "disabled" now and that is hard to adjust to. I mean, she will face challenges for the rest of her life, hopefully less and less as she ages and it will be D and I's responsibility to fight for her in the school systems and the medical realm. With D's job moving us so much, it will be important to fight to be allowed to stay were she is already getting great care.
I think in every situation like ours where there is a true mystery involved in your family member's health condition, you go through the euphoria at the diagnoses at first. You run around meeting all the doctors and you research the diagnoses on the internet until you know more than you should and you are just so relieved that you were right all along and it feels like a massive weight is lifted off of you. Then the reality of what the diagnoses holds starts it's way into sinking in. You have to face what it means for your loved one and for how long and what it will mean in your own life in taking care of them to the best of your ability. Then, in our case, you have to go through a sort of grieving process. Even though E is not dying or severely ill, she is permanently affected by this condition and it will be something that will make her life more challenging in multiple areas. Her development is slower, she speech and hearing is slower and impaired, she will have learning disabilities, she has a tube in her stomach to help her put on weight that will be there for an indefinite amount of time, she has a very high chance of mental illness. Also, all of her own children will have the 50% chance of having the same condition as she does on a much greater scale that could lead to their deaths within weeks of birth or at least heart surgery by weeks to months old. It is scary. Granted, I have been taking care of her without that information for 16 months already and so not much is going to change with the information except more help and less questions. I do however have to get her through these recurring infections and the failure to thrive with D's help and it has been really hard on us. Having a sick child takes a toll on every aspect of family life.
All in all, the relief is quieting down more and more and the depth of what it all means is setting in. We are now facing what it means and what we need to do. Good thing we have our faith in God to get us through because this is what faith exists for. To give you something to trust in and lean on and hope for when you know you have reached the end of your power to control or change things, especially when it is about your beautiful baby. And to think, she has the mildest version of this condition!
I think in every situation like ours where there is a true mystery involved in your family member's health condition, you go through the euphoria at the diagnoses at first. You run around meeting all the doctors and you research the diagnoses on the internet until you know more than you should and you are just so relieved that you were right all along and it feels like a massive weight is lifted off of you. Then the reality of what the diagnoses holds starts it's way into sinking in. You have to face what it means for your loved one and for how long and what it will mean in your own life in taking care of them to the best of your ability. Then, in our case, you have to go through a sort of grieving process. Even though E is not dying or severely ill, she is permanently affected by this condition and it will be something that will make her life more challenging in multiple areas. Her development is slower, she speech and hearing is slower and impaired, she will have learning disabilities, she has a tube in her stomach to help her put on weight that will be there for an indefinite amount of time, she has a very high chance of mental illness. Also, all of her own children will have the 50% chance of having the same condition as she does on a much greater scale that could lead to their deaths within weeks of birth or at least heart surgery by weeks to months old. It is scary. Granted, I have been taking care of her without that information for 16 months already and so not much is going to change with the information except more help and less questions. I do however have to get her through these recurring infections and the failure to thrive with D's help and it has been really hard on us. Having a sick child takes a toll on every aspect of family life.
All in all, the relief is quieting down more and more and the depth of what it all means is setting in. We are now facing what it means and what we need to do. Good thing we have our faith in God to get us through because this is what faith exists for. To give you something to trust in and lean on and hope for when you know you have reached the end of your power to control or change things, especially when it is about your beautiful baby. And to think, she has the mildest version of this condition!
Monday, February 9, 2009
ANNOUNCING...
Z!!!
Born on Feb. 6th, 2009
At 12:09 pm
Weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces
and Measuring 20 1/2 inches
He is WONDERFUL and healthy and I will get pictures out soon!
Born on Feb. 6th, 2009
At 12:09 pm
Weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces
and Measuring 20 1/2 inches
He is WONDERFUL and healthy and I will get pictures out soon!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Update on Life- SERIOUS
Okay, so, I have no idea where to even start...
On Thursday, January 25th, I took E to her pediatrician because she was just not getting over a really nasty sinus infection. When I got there, I told her that I had an appointment scheduled for E at Loma Linda for her GI specialist the next morning. She told me that were it not for that appointment, she would personally hospitalize E, but she wanted her to go to that appointment and would call the doctor herself. Due to her feelings about hospitalizing E and the fact that she would be contacting the specialist, I took D's advice and packed a hospital bag for two of us just in case they admitted her up there at the children's hospital. Well, lucky I did because as soon as we sat down with the specialist, she asked me how far along I was and if there was enough help at home for my older children and I told her we had taken care of it all. She admitted E that evening to Loma Linda Children's Hospital and they started i.v. treatments of antibiotics and started watching her eating and weight and dirty diapers like a hawk. They also started running tons of tests to try to start honing in on what has been creating her eating, weight gaining, and development problems. After a week and a half, they decided to put in a G tube to start doing feedings through the night while she is asleep as a supplementation to her normal eating during the day. That went in today. They also got test results back on her chromosomes and found that she has an abnormal "fish" or chromosome 22 and it means that she has a very mild form of DiGeorge syndrome. I haven't been brave enough to research this disorder yet, but I do know that the doctors already checked to make sure that it hasn't caused heart damage, immune system damage, or calcium deficit and she was in great health on in the heart and calcium areas. They did a swallowing study to make sure she is swallowing well and were able to see why her food has always leaked out of her nose when she eats. There will be more clear information on that in a few weeks when we go back with her as an out-patient to the ENT's (Ear, Nose, and Throat specialists) to run their own tests and get a look. They will be doing a scope to see what is going on in her sinuses and get a better look in her ears. We will also follow up closely with her GI specialist and will be seeing her geneticist. All that and I am having my c-section on THIS Friday. In fact, the only reason I am home now and D is with E is because I had to book it to my OB to get the blood work and pre-admission paperwork done this afternoon. I couldn't put it off any longer and had to take care of this part of things. I will have one full day home before I am in the hospital to have my baby and I am crossing my fingers that D and E will be home by tomorrow night so that D can be there when the baby is born. Otherwise, my mother-in-law will be in the room and D will still be at Loma Linda tending to E. It is a crazy mess, but I am feeling so hopeful now that someone has found a significant key to what has done this to E. Please send TONS of prayers our way as we are all in desperate need of them. They have held us together thus far and I couldn't be more thankful to God than I am right now. God bless.
On Thursday, January 25th, I took E to her pediatrician because she was just not getting over a really nasty sinus infection. When I got there, I told her that I had an appointment scheduled for E at Loma Linda for her GI specialist the next morning. She told me that were it not for that appointment, she would personally hospitalize E, but she wanted her to go to that appointment and would call the doctor herself. Due to her feelings about hospitalizing E and the fact that she would be contacting the specialist, I took D's advice and packed a hospital bag for two of us just in case they admitted her up there at the children's hospital. Well, lucky I did because as soon as we sat down with the specialist, she asked me how far along I was and if there was enough help at home for my older children and I told her we had taken care of it all. She admitted E that evening to Loma Linda Children's Hospital and they started i.v. treatments of antibiotics and started watching her eating and weight and dirty diapers like a hawk. They also started running tons of tests to try to start honing in on what has been creating her eating, weight gaining, and development problems. After a week and a half, they decided to put in a G tube to start doing feedings through the night while she is asleep as a supplementation to her normal eating during the day. That went in today. They also got test results back on her chromosomes and found that she has an abnormal "fish" or chromosome 22 and it means that she has a very mild form of DiGeorge syndrome. I haven't been brave enough to research this disorder yet, but I do know that the doctors already checked to make sure that it hasn't caused heart damage, immune system damage, or calcium deficit and she was in great health on in the heart and calcium areas. They did a swallowing study to make sure she is swallowing well and were able to see why her food has always leaked out of her nose when she eats. There will be more clear information on that in a few weeks when we go back with her as an out-patient to the ENT's (Ear, Nose, and Throat specialists) to run their own tests and get a look. They will be doing a scope to see what is going on in her sinuses and get a better look in her ears. We will also follow up closely with her GI specialist and will be seeing her geneticist. All that and I am having my c-section on THIS Friday. In fact, the only reason I am home now and D is with E is because I had to book it to my OB to get the blood work and pre-admission paperwork done this afternoon. I couldn't put it off any longer and had to take care of this part of things. I will have one full day home before I am in the hospital to have my baby and I am crossing my fingers that D and E will be home by tomorrow night so that D can be there when the baby is born. Otherwise, my mother-in-law will be in the room and D will still be at Loma Linda tending to E. It is a crazy mess, but I am feeling so hopeful now that someone has found a significant key to what has done this to E. Please send TONS of prayers our way as we are all in desperate need of them. They have held us together thus far and I couldn't be more thankful to God than I am right now. God bless.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Unicorns, Door Knobs, Airplane Lollipops, and Dancing
It is Sunday and I am sitting around my house instead of at church because I have three sick children and a cold all to myself as well. So I thought a good Sunday thing to do would be to think of fun things from the kids recently!
M is a unicorn these days. I get an attitude from her if I have the nerve to call her by her name without "unicorn" attached to it somehow (M Unicorn, Unicorn M, or just Unicorn). She goes around on her hands and knees and talks in a very high voice that is only for unicorn time, but she talks less. I joked with D some time ago that I loved Unicorn time because things got much quieter around the house. When I cook meals, they have to be Unicorn food and when I give her a bath, I have to convince her that unicorns love soap and clean hair to get her hair cleaned. It is really special when she is in unicorn mode and wants to show affection. I will suddenly have her at my knees rubbing her head on me like a cat or something. I just say, "I love you too Unicorn" and that usually get a happy Unicorn response and she goes off to do more unicorn things. She has even taken to saying "I wish, I wish, I wish I was a unicorn in a rainbow castle." when she is feeling very sad. It is cute but I feel kind of helpless because that is not something I can do for her at all and nothing I say helps. Not even telling her I love her just as she is as my M, she just gets frustrated that I don't have her vision.
G has outsmarted me once again. Not that it is shocking by any measure, but all the same, this one is pretty smart. In order to get the child in bed for a nap anymore, I have to find ways to keep her in her room. She has mastered opening doors and so I put a door knob cover on the inside to prevent her escapes, even though I hated it. Well, she is not easily stopped and the other night after being put down, she walked into my room and handed me the door knob cover in it's two pieces! So, I put it back on and her back in bed and here she came not very long afterward into my room again. When taking her back to her room yet again, the cover was again in it's two pieces on the floor next to the door. Crap. That was my last idea on keeping her in her room to eventually pass out from boredom! Gates are a fun obstacle course to her and she knows how to use the locks on the doors better than her four year old sister! So, here I am in a state of "oh crap-ness" on nap times. sigh...
E is enjoying sounds more and more as we get more and more wax pulled out. As a result, she has really taken to her own version of dancing to music she likes. E does what we have termed "knee walking" because she has skillfully figured out how to walk along on her knees in order to hold things when she gets around. We are working on walking, but she sees knee walking as just fine for her. Well, when she hears music now, she will get on her knees, close her eyes, pat her chest, and throw her head from side to side with a giant smile on her face. It is absolutely hilarious and sweet at the same time. We love it when she starts going off on her dancing kicks and it gives us a hearty laugh.
Lastly, M has become obsessed with trying to go to work with her daddy. Her dad's job is high security and dangerous and it will NEVER happen. So, when she started up one day with her antics on going with him, a light came on for me. I told her that if she went to work with her daddy, she would have to take naps while she was there because that is what they did at daddy's work. She was horrified and decided that naps were not going to work for her and so Daddy's work did not appeal anymore. I think I know why she had this obsession with going to work with him too. A few weeks ago M came up to me and told me that Daddy was an airplane doctor and that when the airplanes were all fixed, he gives them lollipops for being good. I totally went with it because it was hilarious and I immediately called D to tell him about his job. He thought it was just as funny as I did and he goes along with it too. So, according to M, D goes to work were there are sick airplanes. He makes them feel better and gives them a lollipop and then has everyone lay down for naps. Pretty sweet job! Too bad unicorns don't like naps so they can't go LOL. Good stuff...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Dragging
Okay, so according to the nurse practitioner's best guess on the day I will be c-sectioned, I am having the baby in a month from today. That feels far away and right on top of me simultaniously. My body is so so tired and my mind is racing on all the things that I need to get accomplished before he arrives. So, my mind is saying "do this and do that" while my body is going "ha, ha, ha, ect..." at it. Being a mom has the worst version of sick days and maternity leave ever. I am working just as hard as someone in a work place but don't have any sick days or even a respite when I am 8 1/2 months pregnant. Awesome, really. Heck, I am on-call all through the night for my children even. Okay, I am done whining for the moment, just had to complain out loud to feel heard.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Looking Back and to the Future
So, I am only 5 1/2 weeks from the c-section. I don't plan on having any more children and as this pregnancy is drawing to it's end, I have a lot of feelings about it. More than anything, I feel quiet and reflective about the last five years and how much of it I spent carrying my precious babies. What a blessing it is to be the mommy and to watch your body change and to begin the bonding with your child. To watch your baby move or feel them is amazing and a true-to-form miracle. I once took a medical terminology class in which the professor went through the process of conception and by the end of the class, it was a wonder that anyone actually becomes pregnant with all that has to be perfect in every way for it to work. He called pregnancy a miracle and I agree. I have loved this chapter of my life and all though it has happened all very quickly, it was meant to be that way and I trust in that completely. I am looking forward to the new chapter that will begin when this precious little boy is born and I am excited to have these amazing four children to share my life with. They are forever and always going to be the people by which I will judge myself as a person based on how well I serve them as their mother and teach them how to be the best people they can be. I have a wonderful husband by my side that will be an amazing father in the future as much as he is now. I pray that this part of my life will forever be a precious memory and that the future brings equal joys and miracles. In the pictures provided, I have shown pictures of my pregnancies with each child. It amazes me! It goes in chronological order of M, G, E, and Z.
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