Dragonfly camp

"Dragonfly" tree at "dragonfly" camp

Jessie and the kids made it back from camping yesterday safe and sound.  The kids were so excited to tell me all about their adventures, that they got in trouble for not helping to unload the truck. lol. One of the favorite stories was to tell me all about the dragonflies that were around.  So for us, this campground will be forever called "Dragonfly camp." I told them it was my way of making sure they knew that Mommy and Nana were with them in spirit. As everyone knows I love dragonflies.

Jessie told me of one part of their day, he was making a meal ( I can't remember what time of day it was) and there were tons of dragonflies in the tree, behind him, it got very loud all of a sudden when they all took off. I would have loved to have seen that.

Spencer got the biggest fish of the whole trip. He got a Northern. He was pretty excited. When considering that was the 2 or 3rd time that he's gone fishing, I would be too.  It sounds like everyone got some fish - which makes the trip even better.  Jessie was a little disappointed that they weren't able to go to his favorite spot on the lake whenever he goes there to fish. He said that spot isn't available anymore. So he'll have to find a new spot.

It was nice last night having the kids tell me all their stories.  Cyril was so excited to have the kids home, he wouldn't leave Spencer or Dawn alone.  He was wrestling Spencer everytime you turned around, to bad that Spencer didn't want to wrestle. It was equally nice to have all of my babies under 1 roof again, and under my wing.  To bad the sibling love and getting along between the older two didn't last long. (3hours and 15 minutes to be exact.)

Jessie had to go back to work today, but thankfully he'll be back Friday night. It's going to be a busy weekend this weekend. We have 3 birthday parties to go too, along with some friends coming up for the weekend.  I'm so excited for this weekend. I haven't seen my friend in forever, we've both added to our families since the last time we got together. It's going to be a blast. :)

God Bless~

Dance Your Ass Off

A couple of weeks ago, late one night while nursing Gordon, I started watching a dance show called "Dance Your Ass Off."  I'm not sure if you have seen it, but it's a combo between two shows currently on TV, I think.  The Biggest Losers and Dancing with the Stars.  The contestants are trying to lose large amounts of weight, but they do it dancing. Each week like Dancing with the Stars, there's a dance style that they need to do each week, but there's no famous people.

I've really gotten into the show, not sure if that's because Gordon chooses that time to eat, and it's the show is interesting or what.  One of the contestants made a comment on this week's show. Katie said "She doesn't just want to lose weight, she wants to turn people's heads."  That's exactly what I want to do.  I was on my weight loss journey before I got pregnant with Gordon.  Between January of '09 and the 1st 10 weeks of my pregnancy I had loss 30 pounds.  Even though it wasn't my intention to lose weight the 1st half of my pregnancy it happened.  Now that Gordon is going to be 8 weeks old on Thursday, I feel it's time to start kicking my weight loss back in gear.  Today I've lost 20lbs, which is really good, but I'm not anywhere near my goal weight.  I'll get there, nice and easy, I'll get there.
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God Bless~

GF spice cake.

I made a GF/DF spice cake from Full Circle - which turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself. :)  The best part for me though was the frosting that I made from scratch! I always thought frosting where really hard, so I have avoided that part of the Betty Crocker cookbook.  But I was craving something sweet, and spice cake does not taste good without frosting or whip cream, in my opinion.  The frosting turned out great, but really sweet, so be careful.  I am posting the recipe as well too.  It sure won't help me in getting my girlish figure back since having Gordon, but I think a treat is always a good thing, especially for a new momma.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Butter Frosting by Betty Crocker
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter softened.
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

Mix powdered sugar and margarine/butter.  Stir in vanilla and milk; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.     Fills & Frosts two 8 or 9 inch layers or frosts a 13x9 inch cake.

Trader Joe's

Mom, the little boys and I went to Trader Joe's today.  Mom and I have been meaning to go down there since sometime last year.  We've heard they have a great selection of gluten free foods, and that they aren't really that expensive.  Well - now that Dawn has been showing signs of being at least gluten sensitive if not gluten intolerant, I figured now was the time to go down and check it out. I'm going to be making the household 99% gluten free.  I don't want to make it 100% gluten free, and I'm not sure I'd be able to successfully be able to do it 100% all the time so why try to?

It was a long drive down there today, I'm not sure if it was just because of Gordon having a fussier day today or what the deal was, but it seemed to take forever to get there, and equally long on the way back.  The car accident on the way home didn't help either.  At one point of our trip home - there's a certain stretch that takes 15 minutes to get from one exit to another - it took 40 minutes.  It seemed longer then that when Gordon picked that time to start screaming bloody murder. Yesterday I ate some cheese by accident and I think that helped contribute to his fussiness. Going Casein Free/Dairy Free is a lot harder then I thought it would be, more so then going Gluten Free originally.  Not sure why. :(

In some ways it was worth the time and drive to go down there to check out Trader Joe's.  It reminded mom of an old fashion grocery store. It doesn't have any or very little processed foods. The fresh produce was very yummy looking and low prices.  A thing of bananas was $0.19 and organic ones was $0.29.  Normally in our local grocery store regular ones are $0.59.  Their Brown rice pasta was almost 1.00 cheaper, and there were a few other things too. The Almond milk that I've been drinking was also a 1.00 cheaper here. So I bought a couple.

I was a little disappointed though. I was expecting for them to have a larger selection of GF flours and baked goods. Even more GF crackers and breads. They had only 1 kind of each.  They had a HUGE print out list of GF foods, but they aren't in one section of the store, you have to look for a G symbol on the packaging.  So we'll see. Mom and I are talking about coming back down to check it out again...but without Cyril with.  lol.  It's not that he was naughty, but he was everywhere trying to "help" us grocery shop. Every time I turned around he was putting stuff in his cart, that he thought we'd want. It wasn't junk food, just gluten food. lol.

 It was good for us to go down, because we've always heard about how people just LOVE to go to Trader Joe's, but I just wasn't so sure about it, and if the benefits out way the drive down there.  The jury is still out on that as far as mom and I are concerned.  But it was interesting getting people's opinions for or against Trader Joe's on my facebook account.  So far it's all been positive.

God Bless~

2 more days...

It's Monday morning: Jessie and the kids have been gone 3 days already. It's hard to believe.  I miss them terribly. It's been strange not having them here, when they should be here.  This has been a good test run too, on how things will run when they are in school everyday. 

I haven't done to much out of the normal, but I think Cyril has liked the fact that everytime Gordon has laid down, or if Nana is here holding Gordon, then that's more time I get to spend with him. My little mommy's helper has even returned. All last year, everytime I was cleaning something he wanted to help. Since sometime in April or May - he stopped wanting to do it as much, if at all. And I think we will have to go to the library this week, whether or not the older two are with. We've read thru all the books we checked out.  Cyril is loving that he gets story time, whenever he wants this week. lol.  We have had some interesting days too.  The 1st day they were gone, the  little boys were crabby, we missed a playdate, I lost my cell phone, we had severe weather that included 3 tornado warnings, 1 of which resulted in our seirns going off, or so I'm told. The little boys and I fell asleep, we slept thru the whole thing. Good thing, nothing touched down in town.

The quiet has been really strange for me to get used too. I thought I would love having all of that quiet, but to my surprise I've discovered that I don't.  I love the sound of children laughing. I miss the sound of the kids talking, pestering me with questions, tattling on each other, and etc.  Granted when I'm in the heart of it - it drives me insane on many, many days...but thru this trip I've realized how much those sounds mean to me.

Jessie has been checking in almost everyday. The kids are going to have some interesting stories to tell when they get back. Some are funny (even though Dawn will not think so right now.) and some are just interesting I guess you could say.  Who knew- they would enjoy playing with the walkie talkies so much.  They found a dead snake while they were biking around the campgrounds. Dawn lost a sandal in the lake because she freaked out thinking she had a leech on her. No wonder they didn't get any fish that time....wonder if anyone else did on the lake with how loud she screamed. lol.  Then they go back to the campsite, because she needed her tennis shoes, only to discover they were in the truck with them the whole time. Did I mention the camp site was 30 miles away??? Jessie didn't find it so humorous at the time that he told me, but I think it's funny.

Wonder what interesting adventures they will experience between now and the time they come home?

God Bless~

1st Camping trip

Well - it's 8am in the morning and I'm not sure what to do with myself. lol.  The little boys are sleeping. Jessie, the  older kids and my brother in law Kenny, left this morning for a 5 day/4 night camping trip.  This is the kids 1st big camping/fishing trip.  We decided that the little boys shouldn't go because Gordon is too small, and that the older kids need this trip with just dad. No younger siblings. 

I'm so nervous about it, because it is their 1st big camping trip, not sure how the kids will handle not having any modern day technology. lol. No TV, no video games, and no computer. lol.  Plus the last time Jessie took Spencer fishing, he didn't have a good experience. It was ice fishing and his foot fell in the hole. He swore off all fishing forever. lol.  But this week, he had been getting more and more excited about going so we'll see. I just hope he has really good days, and none of his bad days like he's been having lately.  Dawn has been like a typical teenager. One moment she wants to go, and the next she's too "cool" to be going.  Plus lately she has been having gluten attacks.  At least a couple times a week she's been sick, so I'm starting to wonder what's triggering the gluten attacks.  I just hope she doesn't have any while she is up there. That would make for a miserable trip. I packed a bunch of gluten free foods, but we'll see. You know how kids can be when you restrict them from foods they love.

They've only been gone 2 hours but I miss them terribly. lol.  It will be a nice break for me, especially with the challenges Spencer has been giving me lately, I guess in a way it's respite care for me. Cyril was just sad at the though this week of not being able to go on the camping trip with Daddy and his siblings. But so far this morning he's handling it okay.  He got sad at 1st, but I told him that we needed to do something fun for just the 3 of us. I asked if he'll help me think of some fun stuff, but secretly I've already got some stuff planned. We will go to the splash pad or the wading pool, go to the library, maybe even go to the local fast food place that has a kids play area.  I think he'll have some fun.  Plus it will do him good, to spend some time with just momma, when Gordon is sleeping. It's been tough for him having to share his mommy.

This is going to be an interesting day I think, I wonder how it will go and the rest of the week will go without all of my family here.

God Bless~

7 weeks already!

Times sure seems to fly during summer break, and when you add a newborn it seems to fly even faster.  Gordon was 7 weeks on Thursday. I can't believe it!!! Where has the time gone. He's getting bigger every day, and it's been neat seeing the changes in the kids in regards to Gordon.  Last Wednesday, he was weighed for an appointment and came in 13lbs  5 oz. He measured in at  23 inches.  So, I guess momma's milk is working well for him.

Nursing is getting better, but it's still a challenge at times. I'm really glad that I made the decision not to take on any new children under the age of 2 this summer because I wasn't sure how things would go with him. It would have been really hard to nurse him, and take care of a young toddler or infant.  One of my daycare families had to stop coming, because their dad last his job (damn economy), and I was really sad.  Mr. E was just on the verge of taking his 1st steps and I've missed that big milestone.  It's turning out to be a blessing though that he and his sister is not here, considering the challenges that I've had with nursing Gordon. 

Plus Gordon is turning out to be a fussier baby then Cyril was. He's more like his sister Dawn at this age. So that's been a tough on all of us.  Mom has been a HUGE and I mean huge blessing with him, especially during the work week when Jessie is gone.  I'm not sure what the kids and I would have done with her.  She says that Gordon looks so much like me when I was a baby at that age, only he's a lot bigger then I was ( I was only 7lbs when I was born. lol.)  So that in a way is a blessing, because she's really bonded with him, I wasn't sure if she would.

I discovered something very interesting in the last couple of weeks.  Since Gordon has been so fussy almost colic like (Dawn has colic. Ugh, that was hard), I've been on the hunt to find out if there was a cause.  He also has eczema really bad.  I read an interesting article about fussy babies/colic babies and milk sensitivities.  These babies also tend to have the acid reflux eczema, and, are also the spitters too when fed formula. (Breastfed babies spit, but not as often and most certainly not as bad.)So at this point I was ready to try anything. So I cut out the cow's milk and dairy products I was consuming, in hopes that it would help.  And that has seemed to really help things, and his eczema has disappeared almost. Why did no one tell me!! So as of now I'm GFDF or GFCF depending on who you talk too. (DF=Dairy free or CF = casein free) I'm getting used to almond milk in my coffee. I haven't been brave enough to try it in my cereal. I will not do soy milk, because of what Soy does to the male body.  I figure Gordon's already getting enough soy products from the foods that I eat, and he's getting enough synthetic estrogen already from the environment...why the hec would I add more? He's also proving to be sensitive to gluten products.  Up until recently I thought that I had been able to eat gluten products without having any attacks on my body the 2years I nursed Cyril. I know, I know - dummy me. Recently that was proven wrong to me, and to top it off, the same days that I had gluten products, Gordon was fussy and had extremely messy diapers, worse then what a normal breastfed baby has.

I am missing alot of the dairy products, but it's not forever.  I figure I'll try in back in my diet in 4-6months and see what happens. If' he's still the same, then I will continue to avoid till after he is done nursing. After I started doing this, my mom reminded me that my cousin Jess was lactose intolerant or had a milk sensitivity as a child.  Plus Cyril is sensitive to milk too.  We haven't taken him off dairy though, and I'm starting to wonder if we should.  So we'll see what happens for Gordon.

God Bless~

Rule 25

I used a phrase by the cartoon character "Olivia" from the cartoon Olivia (If you aren't a parent of a young preschooler - you may not get that.) in the title because, this past week, Jessie and I have experienced one of the sucky parts of parenting: animals dying part.

For as long as Jessie and I have been together, my in- laws have had cats on their property. Whether house cats or strays. For the last 3 years I believe, they've had a bunch of them.  One of the strays has had 2 or 3 litters of kittens since she came in our lives. Of that 1st batch only 2 of her babies are really friendly. One of them - has become a beloved pet of Dawn's.  He is her best animal friend as she puts it.  Well sadly - what so often happens to pets whether beloved family or strays when you live in the country, happened to her buddy.

My brother in law Kenny, told Jessie yesterday, that Buddy, the cat was hit by a car about a week or two ago.  When we went up there on 4th of July weekend, we didn't see Buddy, and it wasn't from a lack of trying.  If Dawn finds out, she will be devastated.  When we went up there about a month ago, she was devastated that she couldn't find him, fearing the worst.  But my mother in law Gail, God bless her,  told her, he visits all the neighbors too, so not to worry.

So Jessie and I are taking the cowards way out right now, and not going to tell her for now.  I don't want to tell her the truth about Buddy, so my mother said to say that he probably found a really good home, and that's why he's not around. Which in a around about way is true...he has found a better home, in kitty heaven.  No home is better then Heaven...human or animal. :)

Between last Saturday with the local bunny that they call "Flash" dying and now Buddy, it's been a rough week...so for now we are taking the cowards' way out and not telling the kids the truth...this is one of life's lessons' that I do NOT like about being a parent.

God Bless~

Bunnies

On Thursday - I had a couple of my daycare boys. Two of my favorites, okay, I'll be honest they are all my favorites, and I love them all to death. lol. Anyways - I had MR. J and Mr. C over for the day, we were all outside in the backyard. When Mr. C goes over to one of the playground equipment, and starts yelling "Bunnies! Bunnies!" I couldn't figure out what on earth he was talking about. He comes running over to me as fast as his little legs would carry him to me, and begins pulling my hand. He's yelling and pointing. So we go back over there, sure enough, there are 6 baby cotton tail bunnies in it. Momma Rabbit was sure smart making her den in that particular piece. Safe from predators (since our yard is fenced) and the kids haven't been drawn to that part of the yard at all so far this summer.

Since all the kids knew about them - of course they needed to peak at them...constantly. lol. Thankfully none of them touched the bunnies who were about 3 weeks old I imagine, (They looked ready to leave the den) we did make the momma nervous, because the next morning they were gone. I had assumed that they left the den the night before, but this afternoon/evening we would find all 6 babies back in our yard. Jessie and the kids found two earlier this afternoon, but caught one of them. Jessie and I would later find the remaining 5 and their momma tonight. Boy was THAT an adventure.  Those little buggers are fast! lol.

 Sadly, my friends - Momma Rabbit aka "Flash" to those of you that have heard my older kids and some of the other neighborhood kids talk about a local rabbit, is no longer with us. Something,we believed scared her, because she got stuck in the fence and died. Jessie discovered how easily it is to frighten a rabbit to death, from our research on the internet (Once we got the one- we didn't know what to do).  With how often this bunny has been in and out of our back yard, she knew about the fence, so that's the only conculsion that we came too.  We have not told the kids, because we know they would be just heart -broken. All the kids love that rabbit. 

Jessie and Dawn will release the other 5 babies down at the park with it's sibling in the morning. They picked a safe spot, and Jessie dug another den for the 1 baby, he'll put the others there.  I'm being a nervous adopted momma for these babies. I took a bunch of lettuce and water to them in the box that we have them in. I'm so scared that they weren't quite ready to leave the den yet, but all the research says that they are ready to be on their own. A really good sign is that they are pooping on their own, so that gives me courage...but still.  Hopefully with our prayers and God's blessing they will survive.

Dawn and I got to each hold a couple...I can't tell you how hard it was NOT to keep at least one of them. They were so cute and cuddly. No bigger then my hand...but Jessie does not like animals of the rodent variety. lol. Not to mention our landlord won't allow us to have pets.

God Bless~

Blue Jays

I have heard that Blue Jays (the birds) are the meanest birds around.  I've watched them with other birds, and I agree they are. Figured if we leave them alone, they'll leave us alone. Fast forward to this summer. We have a family of Blue Jays in our back yard. I believe they have 2 or 3 baby birds. No biggie, since it's been so wet & I've been on maternity leave, I've not had to worry about kids in the back yard, other then my own.

This past weekend, as Spencer was trying to mow the grass, we saw a baby bird, trying to climb up the tree. Then all of a sudden out of no where, you hear the Momma bird, just squawking at us, and dove at us a couple of times. Then the Daddy Blue Jay joined in. Made all of us a little nervous. So we've been leaving that side of the yard alone.

Earlier this week, you could hear this soft sound/call from a baby bird, couldn't find where it was coming from,then Spencer found it. Yep- fell into one of the window wells of the basement. The kids freaked out, because they were so worried how this baby was going to get out, and the parents were sitting on the roof -raising up a ruckus too. So I got the kids to get some wood, and we placed it in the window well.  Later we checked on it, and the baby was gone.  So now, I've placed a large piece of wood over the window wells, to prevent any more babies from fall in.

The kids are relieved the baby is okay, I'm okay that neither one of the parent birds attacked me, my neighbor or our kids.  My neighbor told me that one of the parent birds, attacked her husband, and pecked him on the shoulder.  Ouch! I'd hate for that to happen to any of us.

Wonder what will happen next in our little Blue Jay soap opera....as the "World Turns" lol.

God Bless~

Blue Angels

Oh my word was today hot!!  This weekend has been a busy weekend for us. The kids and I finally got to see Dawn in a parade. I was such a proud mommy. My friends and I cheered and hollered for the band, and for Dawn. I got all teary-eyed finally getting to see my baby girl in a parade.  I'm such a proud mom. lol. I was so thankful that God kept the weather at bay until the kids were done with the parade.  Then it rained. It was a VERY long parade, but the boys had a blast and I finally got to see Dawn march so it was worth it.

Today was a memorable one.  The city of St. Cloud like all Minnesota cities in the summer is having it's annual City festival this weekend. But this year was different, they held an air show that hosted the famous Blue Angels and several other famous air planes. So as a family we were blessed to go to the air show. It was a long day, but the kids had fun. At first I wasn't sure if we had made the right decision.  Nana was talking about taking the kids to see Aunt Nancy this weekend, and the kids were bummed that they weren't going with her, but to the air show. To be honest - when they acted less then thrilled about going, I was crushed. The older two are always talking about wanting to do more "fun" stuff as a family, and I thought - the air show..with the Blue Angels?! What would be more fun then that?

The kids didn't last very long when we got there, either between the hot weather (Clear blue skies, sun and humidity), or just being kids and sitting there for so long, they got super antsy.  So between Jessie and I, we walked the kids around the airport where the air show was being held.  The kids had a blast climbing in and out of the various planes on display, the boys even got to try on one of the pilots' helmets. The kids climbed the rock wall. It was neat watching Dawn do it, since she had so much fun doing it at  Deep Portage earlier this spring.  Spencer and Cyril even tried to climb the wall. Spencer got about half way up, and came down. Cyril didn't even get out of the Soldier's arms.lol. They also had a play area for the kids. The inflatables were a blast for them. They played and bounced for over an hour on those things. Including during the Blue Angels flight show. lol. 

It was really cool to see the plane formations and etc. There were a couple of times that I about died because of the fly byes that they did. But it was fun watching the kids get excited about the planes.  It will be neat to have the pictures to look back on this day.

There were a few times while we were there that again made me question if we made the right choice to go. One because of how loud it was at times for baby Gordon. We made a make-shift ear muffs for him, and he seemed fine,slept thru the loudest parts. lol. Dawn and I argued briefly, and etc. But I hope over all the kids had a blast. All of us but baby Gordon got sunburned, even with sunscreen on. It will be interesting to see what they think of  tomorrow's festivities. We'll see what more the city of St. Cloud has to offer.

God Bless~

I miss my husband..

I miss my husband very much.  It's tough having him gone all week long, sometimes more then others.  Then again, there have been a few times, I'm glad he's gone for the week.  lol. Which I'm sure there are times that, he's been glad to be gone all week.  I'm not that easy to live with at times. lol. Things have been tough this last week or so with him gone. Due to him working overtime this past weekend, it will be 2 weeks by the time the kids and I see him again.  Over the last couple of days it feels like an eternity away, and makes me wonder how military families do it?

With all the rain, being couped inside, the adjustment to having Gordon here...things have been really tough. The kids have been at it more then normal, and I've ready to pull my hair out. lol. I didn't realize that having 4 kids would be this hard.  I knew it would be tough, but I honestly thought that it would be a little easier having the age differences that we have with our kids. I wish someone had knocked me on the side of the head during my pregnancy. lol.

Dawn has been a HUGE help with Gordon and the 2 daycare kids I had last week. She and Spencer have been a thorn in each other's side come evening time though.  Here I thought with them having activities that would lessen a bit, it has and it hasn't made that much of a difference. I wonder if that makes sense? lol. Cyril is being super naughty last week and this week. I know why, and was prepared for it to come...it's still been really tough, having my sweet boy become this...this...I can't really find the words other then naughty.

Not to mention that Gordon and I are having trouble getting the nursing relationship down.  He's a lazy latcher, and nurser. He falls asleep nursing barely after 10 minutes, doesn't matter if I strip him down to his t-shirt or not. Then he wakes up an hour later to nurse again. Or he'll go 4-5hours between feedings, by then my chest is ready to explode! lol. I think I gave him his nuk to early too, because he likes his nuk, way more then he should. Plus he doesn't want to latch on right either and gets so mad because the let down doesn't come as quickly as he'd like. So needless to say my milk supply has taken a serious hit -which is adding to the stress and frustration - of having a new baby, in addition to 3 children who all need attention. Did I mention I miss my husband? lol.

Do I need to mention the hormones too? lol. I had forgotten about those changes too. This weekend they really hit, and are stilling going strong. I'm crying and laughing at the silliest times, getting cranky at other times.

When Jessie was off those few days after Gordon was born, and when he was home that 1st weekend too, it was a HUGE blessing to not only have him there, but to have that extra helping hand.  I had forgotten the extra work you have when a new baby comes into the household.  I think a great gift for ALL new parents is for time to stand still or give us an extra hour, or two or three...so that we can get everything done that needs to be done.

Only 4 more days till he's home...and I'm counting the hours till he's here. It's Father's Day weekend this coming weekend...the kids and I will need to plan something to show him just how much we miss him and appreciate him.

God Bless ~

New schedule?

Things aren't slowing down by any means...not sure if that's a good thing at this point or not. I'll have to let you know.  Dawn had her 1st parade this past Saturday.  She was so nervous about being able to do everything: playing the piece and marching at the same time. From what I'm told she did WONDERFUL! Why - did I not see it, you may wonder? Well, because we were in the wrong spot. We were at the beginning of the parade which was my plan, but we were in the WRONG spot. lol. We got to see all the great floats, but the bands were at a different spot, due to the parade officials having them merge further down the route then where we were. Both Dawn and I were extremely disappointed that the boys and I didn't get to see her.  Later this week, she will have another parade that she'll be in. The boys and I are leaving with the band, so that I know exactly where they are beginning, this time. lol. I'm a Band mom, so I'm learning...is there a learning curve as a band parent?

Mother Nature is upsetting my schedule and plans for this summer. Seriously - enough with the rain...or can we at least have it at night?  I haven't been able to finish planting the garden, and I'm starting to have some serious doubts if I will ever be able to get it all done. Especially because we will be out of town this weekend and with the rain never seems to stop, my days are numbered if not already up.  The kids are starting to be affected by the rain too, since there have been more days then not where they've been couped up in doors. My kids and 2 of my daycare kids - trashed the daycare room downstairs today, from all of the playing...but I'll worry about that tomorrow as the saying goes. It was just nice not to listen to the yelling or the arguing between the kids.  I actually had the living room to myself with Gordon and my daycare boy Mr. E.  It was cute watching Mr. E explore the living room without the other kids around. The weather man says that tomorrow is the last day of rain for the week, that remains to be seen.

Speaking of schedules, my mother and I are implementing a new schedule with my kids this week, well even the older daycare kids will be in on this as well.  The kids have "school" time for 1-2hrs every day, with the exception of Friday.  The older two work on math and reading skills for that time, while the little ones will be continue to do their colors, fine motor skills and etc. The older kids will also get some of their chores done in the morning as well.  We are getting tough on the older kids this summer in regards to their manners, and snotty attitude.  The more disrespectful they are, the more chores they have. Mom is starting to really see what the older two have been doing, and wants to help me correct it. I'm thankful for the help.  When Jessie is home the kids aren't even close to being this way with him.  So we'll see at the end of summer what the results are of this new schedule...

God Bless~

2 weeks today

It's hard to believe that little Gordon has been here for 2 weeks already. He had his 2 week check up today, and I'm happy to report that he's doing great! He got down to 10lbs 2oz when we left the hospital on the 29th. He's now 11lb 5oz. measuring at 22 inches long. Our peds. doctor: Dr. S. thinks that the hospital messed up on measuring him (which isn't surprising considering how scrunched up babies are when they are 1st born). So I guess you can say that nursing Gordon is going well. I just hope it will continue to do that. Which is almost every nursing mom's concern. lol.

It was also a tough day for Gordon too. He had a procedure done, that's normally done at the hospital.  Since we refused the vitamin K shot, they needed to wait till Gordon was at least 8 days old to have it done. Things so far seem to be going well, he's been sleeping  most of the day, but I think anyone would after that. It was a tough day for mommy too. Hopefully he and his brothers will be glad we had it done, and not resent it.

Spencer is getting more and more enthralled with Gordon. It's neat to watch. Dawn loves Gordon, she has been a huge helper this week, since 1 of my daycare families returned. To be honest I don't know how I would have been able to do it, if she wasn't there to help. Cyril, we have to keep a sharp eye on, when he's around Gordon. It's not that he's naughty with him, it's the complete opposite.  He LOVES him soo much.  Twice I've found him, holding Gordon, even though NO one has helped put Gordon in his lap.

Dawn has had a busy 1st week of Summer break. She has had marching band practice every night.  She has her 1st parade on Saturday. Dawn is very excited about it, and as far as line up goes, is in the 1st row. :)

Spencer and Dawn are also in swimming lessons, already I've seen a HUGE improvement from last summer, both in attention/focus and endurance.  So we'll see if the kids will pass the levels they are in this year.  I have to help fine tune a couple of things as far as skills go, but not to much this year. It looks like things are finally clicking for them. I am thinking of possibly putting Cyril in lessons this year or next year, I'm not sure. I'll need to talk to Jessie about it.

So the last couple of days have been busy and exhausting. I'm really glad that I didn't take on my full daycare this week, because to be honest I don't think I would have been able to handle it. I'm so exhausted as it is. It's been a huge blessing to have several of my MOPS moms bringing us dinner last week and this week. To know that my family has a nutritional meal each night has been a huge gift. Starting next week, I'll be on my own, and I'm nervous, about how I'm going to be balancing all of this.

God Bless

Peanut's Arrival!

As you know I've been in the early stages of labor for weeks, it seemed to drag on and on. To be honest I was starting to get frustrated, I was expecting that part to go quicker then it did, but after peanut's arrival, we discovered why it was that way...or a theory anyways.

On Wednesday May 26th, my contractions started up again, not regular, but strong. I figured it was due to the stress of dealing with Spencer's eye injury. I was feeling really tired, not myself, so I laid down to take a nap since Cyril was sleeping too.  That was around 3:30pm, by 4:30pm I was awoken with some really strong contractions, this was when I noticed I had back labor too starting in. So I told Dawn what was going on, and decided to take a bath to see what would happen: would they get stronger and more regular or would they stop, like before. I was in the bath for about 30 minutes and this time, nothing happened positive or negative.  So I told the kids to get their stuff ready, and I was going to call my friend Amy. My hospital bags were backed (including one, with my Gluten Free foods and a baby name book), and we waited for Amy to call me back...once she did it was arranged that her husband Bob would watch the kids and Amy would come up and keep me company. Either till I was admitted and Jessie arrived or till they sent me home.

When we got up to L & D, they checked me and there was still no change. I was still 3cm and only 80%. I was so frustrated I could have cried, but had a sneaking suspicion that this was a possibility. They still wanted to monitor the contractions to see if this was the real thing and if not, I was going home.  Around 10pm - the nurse came in and said they were admitting me, starting pitocin & inducing labor.  The reason: Peanut wasn't tolerating the contractions very well. Peanut's heart rate would drop every time I had a contraction, the OB doctor on call didn't like that.  And to be honest I didn't either, we were actually going to say something the next time the nurse came in. This was the 2nd time Peanut did that, 1st being when I went in a couple of weeks ago. So I called Jessie - who was already aware that I was up there, and told him it was time to come home and what was going on.  Then Peanut chose to move and resettle, which was a good thing, because it's heart rate stabilized. The doctor then gave me the decision to either go home and wait for labor to start OR to go ahead with the induction (Which I really didn't want, but I wasn't comfortable going home with Peanut's heart rate dipping like that.) SO I called Jessie and asked him what we should do. Told him my feelings  on the matter, and he said he wasn't comfortable with me going home either. He would rather we get the induction started and have Peanut's arrival. So they waited till Jessie arrived before they would start the pitocin.  Thankfully Amy waited with me till Jessie arrived. Bless her heart, because it was around 1:30/2am before he got there. While we waited, we walked and walked trying to get the contractions to move on their own.  I'm so thankfully she was there, because we talked and talked, she kept me distracted thru my contractions. 

When Jessie arrived, Amy when to rescue Bob. lol. No - he did a great job with 5 children in the house.  Their boys went down easy,  Cyril kept his brother and sister up for awhile before Bob had to step in and make him lay down. Amy & Bob made sure the kids got to school on time and safely. Melissa another MOPS mom friend watched David for the morning while Amy had a field trip with her oldest son. We will forever be greatful for them for all the help & support they provided.

Jessie and I walked around the L & D floor for about another hour before they started the pitocin, which was  started around 3am. The staff were great for letting me do more walking and stuff naturally to get things going, they also kept the levels low till my OB doctor. Dr. B went on call at around 8am.Our nurse Liz called him. He said he would be there by10:30am to break my water if it hadn't broken by then. By about that time though things were getting very regular and strong. I am thankful that I took another friend's suggestion of acupressure up, because that helped get me through a lot of the contractions. At around 9:30am - nurse Liz (Jessie gave her such a hard time, but she was great, kidding around with him.) checked me.  I was then 3-4cm & 90%, so we walked some more.  At 10am - the strangest sensation I have EVER had happened. My water broke all on it's own.  I never had that happen with the other 3, the funny thing was that i was in the bathroom, when it happened, glad there wasn't a huge mess. lol.  After mentioning it to the nurse (now looking back it's funny how I mentioned it to her.), she double checked and confirmed that it had.  This is when everything sped up.

Both my front contractions and back labor started kicking into over drive. It got to a point where the few acupressure points that I remembered, weren't doing enough to relieve the pain.  I asked Jessie to run a bath for me, thinking if I could at least get relief from the back labor, things would be fine.  I never got settled into the tub.  I was on my knees the whole time. Jessie was wonderful. A great labor coach, he put pressure where I needed it, soothed me with the water when I needed it, but it was tough for him, since I didn't have any pain meds at this point. So I know the moaning & etc,  I did through contractions, was tough because I was in so much pain and he couldn't take it away. By this point when I went into the tub -both sets of contractions started piggy-backing. (When one stopped, the other kind picked up.) It got to the point where I knew I needed something to take the edge off, I didn't think I could do it anymore. So I had Jessie go get our nurse, but after hearing a contraction, she checked me, and said I was to far gone to have any to relieve the pain. 
This was at 11:15am -  I was 8cm and 100%. I then had 2 more contractions, which I guess I started to push with those. She checked me again, and discovered that less then 5 minutes later, I was ready to push.  She called Dr. B to come. I was ready for the show to get started, but like Jessie said, we waited this long for Dr. B - we could wait for a few more minutes. Thankfully Dr. B arrived shortly after that.  It would be a long period of  pushing though. We discovered through some of the pushing that Peanut had turned back over, so it was again posterior or sunny-side up (meaning facing the front instead of the tail bone.), so Dr. B was trying to get him to turn every time I pushed. It got really tough. Everyone was great, encouraging me when I didn't think I could do it anymore. I was exhausted and amazingly "slept" through a couple of contractions, or focused on something else.

Then I became one of "those" women. lol. Women that I swore I was never going to be, because I'd like to think of myself as more modest then that, more of a lady then that. But when "animal" instinct takes over to get that baby out, you do what you need to do. I ended up yelling thru the contractions towards the end, and it helped surprisingly. But trouble soon appeared after Peanut's head was delivered. Peanut's shoulders became stuck.  I don't know if Jessie realized it or not, but I didn't realize that there was something wrong till all of sudden 4 more nurses arrived.  They helped support my legs, while 1-2 other nurses pushed on my stomach from the top to give more force behind my contractions to help get Peanut out. I will never forget Dr. B said just as the nurses pushed on my stomach. Peanut would get a broken collar bone as a result. :(

Then after a few more minutes we heard: Congratulations you have a BOY!  I knew it was all over.  Gordon was born at 12:32pm on May 27th. And he really isn't a peanut. He was a whopping 10lbs 11oz (We have a picture showing 10lbs 8oz - so not sure which one is right.)and he's 21 inches long.  NO wonder my labor took so long  to start and he got stuck. I am happy, even though my labor was so intense and so tough that I didn't get the time for the drugs, because I didn't want them. I went into labor with that plan. And as a result Gordon was a much more alert baby, for which I'm very thankful. I still think it's humorous that it would take us most of the day to come up with a name for him.

His collar bone will heal on it's own - they don't do anything for it these days. We just have to be very careful around it, which is hard when you have a 3yr old wanting to hold his little brother all the time. Cyril & Dawn are very much in love with their new baby brother. Spencer is handling his disappointment that Gordan is a boy and not a girl very well. He also pays a bit more attention to Gordon then he did with Cyril. Which has been very interesting.

So that is Gordon's birth story....

God Bless.

Busy, Busy.

The last couple of weeks have been very busy at our household, hence the long silence on my part.  Our Peanut made HIS arrival on May 27th, 2010. But I'll save all the details for another entry...just cause I can. lol.  Spencer also got hurt during that same week on Tuesday the 25th.  And let me tell you it's been a learning experience as far as helping to get the injury to heal.

Spencer was bouncing a bouncy ball in the back yard, showing one of the daycare kids, how high it went.  The 1st several times everything went well, but then some how instead of bouncing forward, it bounced back and struck Spencer full force in the eye.  He dropped like a ton of bricks, as you can imagine.  After about 20 minutes with an ice pack, looking at the eye, seeing a bit of blood on the eye ball itself, I knew that this was a little more serious. So we called the Eye Doctor, who advised us to come in right away.  After looking at the eye, come to find out, Spencer had a severe cut on the cornea of the eye, and a blood vessel had ruptured on the iris.  At 1st the doctor couldn't tell if the retina was intact, due to all of the blood, so we had got some medicated drops, and had to return 24hrs later.  We would later discover the good news that, his retina is still intact, but will have to be on guard for the next 3yrs, because a retina can still become detached after an injury like this. Poor guy.  We are still doing medicated drops, and seeing the doctor every few days to make sure that the eye is healing. The cut on the cornea is healed, but we are waiting for the blood and inflammation to go down in the eye.  His eyesight is returning to normal so hopefully things will get better.

The kids have were busy having end of the year school activities and parties to celebrate the end of the school year.  Dawn's school got to go to Valley Fair, this past week they got to go to a movie, and pretty much have an easy last 2 weeks of school. Spencer's class got to go the Diary Queen for a middle of the day treat.  Actually all the classes go in the elementary school. Doesn't your heart go out to those employees of the Diary Queen? lol.

I ended up having almost no daycare kids these last two weeks, so that was very interesting. I miss my "kids" terribly, but it was really nice spending that last week with my kids, before peanut arrived, even on the day Spencer got his injury.

I didn't even make it to my last OB appointment before Peanut arrived. lol. He actually arrived the day of my last appointment.  It was a nice long weekend for us to enjoy as a family with our new addition.  This week has been very quiet, and interesting learning how to get things done with 2 little boys in the house, and trying to get 4 kids ready at night for bed. I've been so thankfully of my MOPS moms who have brought us dinner these last couple of nights. They have been Heaven sent, knowing that I didn't need to worry about a meal for the kids at night. 

Last night we had our 1st officially event out of the house since our little guy was born. We had our annual MOPS family picnic last night.  It was great seeing some of the MOPS moms again, the kids had a blast at the park and the splash pad.  Thankfully the rain held off till we were pretty much done. Then it seems like everyone made a dash. lol. It was a great evening...

I wonder

Spencer has been having a really rough time this month as far as sensory things go. Even though he has the injuries that he has, it's easy to forget about them at times, and think of him as a normal 10 year old boy. But this morning, as a lot of mornings recently have gone, I'm reminded so clearly that he is not. He thank goodness has stopped fighting about his new shoes. It only took a week this time...they are a little bigger then I would prefer, but at least they aren't a size and half bigger like he wanted. I think last time, it was over a month before he finally stopped....which I predict will happen again this fall. Wish I could just keep him in tennis shoes all summer, would that prevent that battle from occurring? We are on week 2 of battles with the socks. Sigh. SOCKS!!! Who knew that these little buggers  along with clothes would become my enemy every darn morning? He thankfully didn't fight me about wearing shorts this morning, but he did try to sneak out of the house without wearing socks.  He cries every morning because they "don't feel" right.  How to you argue with or justify to a child that they are just fine?  With his shoe size he's right in the middle of them, so I know they fit just fine. The problem is he likes to wear them (if you aren't paying attention) till he stretches them out sloppy big and then to him the "feel right". Sigh. To a parent that has never had a child with sensory issues or a brain trauma...I can see you all. Just tell him to "suck it up", deal with and etc.  Trust me there have been times, we've done that, but it's more then that, trying thinking of something you absolutely hate to do or wear because the sound bothers you, the taste is disgusts you/makes you gag, the clothes bother you because of the texture and etc.  Everyone has something in 1 of the 5 senses that bothers the hec out of them. They avoid it like a plague.  NOW  - take that feeling and apply it across the board in all 5 senses.  You know have an small idea what my son and every other child with sensory issues goes thru. And even though we learn to avoid those things, sometimes we can't, but we are able to work thru it. These children are not able to. Hence the daily battles. I just pray that we can find a happy medium. As I spend time with my Uncle Greg, or listen to what's going on with him...I wonder if this is where my son will be?

And I wonder if it will every get any easier for us as a family, and for him as a person to deal with his injuries.  We've had a lot of stress at our house this past month, due to various circumstances, some of them have been within our control and others are annoyingly not within our control. Some of them have taken the focus off my children for brief periods of time, and I think Spencer has been picking up on those things as well, maybe that's why things have gotten worse lately with his behavior and with his sensory issues. Or at least a contributing factor. This summer will be very interesting for the older two, hopefully the various activities that I have planned will help some what, and I have to honestly now consider the possibility of eventually having to homeschool at least Spencer.

He's coming to that age where he realizes that he is different, and knows that there really isn't anything that he can do to change it.  And that hurts so much, as his mother. I would love for my little boy to stay in the world where he doesn't notice his differences, and he doesn't realize that others are not like that...but it's not the case anymore, and last night, he wanted to know what he did wrong to be this way. It broke my heart, I tried to explain he didn't do anything wrong. After our conversation, all I could do when I went to bed last night, is cry for my son.  He's being picked on at school, and will not tell me by whom.  How can I protect my son from this hurt along with the other hurts in life?  As a mother, my protective instincts come out big time, how could they not?  But I know that as he gets older, I must let him deal with these, and be there in the wings for him.

God Bless...

39 weeks...

Today is the 39 week mark. The last couple of weeks have been busy as far as the every day family life goes, but as far as baby news goes...nothing. sigh. lol. We had a great visit with my uncle Greg last weekend. He came up with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Steve. It was the 1st time in 8 mos that I've seen him.  He looked really good, but sounded different at times.  It was strange to see my uncle but at times to listen to him and know that he was a different Greg.  I can't wait to see him again though...hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

Dawn has had an exciting week this week as far as school goes. The entire school got to go Valleyfair for a day this past week.  I thought it was just her grade, but it was the entire school had the option.  She had so much fun.  It was great to see the sparkle in her eyes from having so much fun.  She decided to be in Marching Band this summer. So it will be interesting how that goes, I think she'll have a blast. I remember how much fun it was.  She also this week go word that she is going to be a WEB leader next year.  It's a special mentor type position for the 7th & 8th graders to be for the new students and for the incoming 6th graders. It's really cool. Out of 600+ students in her grade, over 300+ students applied to be one, and it was narrowed down to less then 20 students I believe. So it's really cool that she got selected.

As far as progress goes in regards to the pregnancy...it's coming. Slowly.  I swear I think that Peanut is a girl, since things are progressing so slowly. My due date is officially 7 days away counting today.  And after seeing Dr. B on Thursday - we have a game plan.  If peanut doesn't show by next weekend, we talked about an induction date of either the 1st or 2nd week of June.  So either way by June 12th (I'll be 42weeks along) we will have a new addition to the family.  To be honest the last couple of weeks have been tough.  I feel like I'm having hot flashes all the time, I'm nauseated, feel like a beached whale and the list goes on.  I am having contractions, but they aren't regular...not the Braxton Hicks contractions.  I've made some progressive changes down there since I was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, but it's been disappointing at the pace.  When I start Dr. B on Thursday, I know have permission to do stuff naturally to encourage labor.  But like he said, if labor isn't ready to start it won't go.  He even tried stripping my membranes on Thursday.  Oh lordy! Was that uncomfortable. No I didn't think it was going to be pleasant, but I did not expect it to hurt either. But as you can tell, it didn't work.

I've been drinking my red raspberry leaf tea almost every day, and squatting when the contractions do hit and get strong, so we'll see if that will work. I'm going to try a few other things this coming week to see if things will start. Ever since Thursday though, things are getting more and more uncomfortable. It would be great to hear at this coming week's appointment that I'm a 4 or 5cm instead of just 3cm. Next week would be a great time for this peanut to show, because my 3 main daycare kids are gone for the week. But as we all know the peanut will arrive on God's time, not mine.

God Bless

37 weeks

We have now reached the official "full-term" marker today. Yay!  So truly now baby can come any day, since everything is now considered ready.  Up until this week I was feeling really good, especially considering this is baby no. 4. Sure I had moments where I was exhausted, but then again what woman wouldn't be running after daycare children and her own all week long?  Even though I had horrible morning sickness with this one, we had the H1N1 go thru our house, it's been a fairly smooth sailing pregnancy. I don't even really count that scare I had a couple of weeks ago. Compared to the complications that I had with the boys, this has been great, similar to what I had when I was pregnant with Dawn, including the emotional stressors I have had this pregnancy. Drama is all I say on that one.

This week though, things are progressing some more.  I had my 36 week check up this week with Dr. B.  He is so charming and makes me laugh. This time Dawn got to go with and hear the baby's heartbeat. She has yet to be able to go to an appointment with me during this pregnancy because of school. So it was fun watching her expression when she heard  Peanut's heartbeat. She said all in the same breathe "That's so cool, but it's really weird." lol.  Dr. B told us some funny stories about what his 5 boys did growing up. So it was a good 1st visit for Dawn to be there with. Everything is going good. Blood pressure was actually low considering the stressors that I've been under lately. 104/58. I think that's one of the lowest I've ever had. My weight went up, but I was retaining a lot of water this week, and it didn't help that I ate some potato chips either the night before the appointment.  Peanut's heartbeat was in the high 140's. I told Dr. B about some of the changes that I've been experiencing and he said it makes sense that I would be feeling them, since this is baby 4.  He nor I felt like I needed to be checked, that will happen next week.

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. We started to get a tad bit excited yesterday.  I saw some physical changes, along with getting some contractions about 30-40 minutes apart.  They were consistent and I continued to feel like I've gone horseback riding without the benefit of a horse. (I've felt like that all week-not to mention but it feels like the baby is dropping.)They never got really uncomfortable, but enough for me to stop and take notice of the time.  And later last night when the back labor contractions kicked in, they did get stronger, where I needed to breathe thru them.  They got down to about 4minutes apart. I know that some of you are thinking why didn't you go up?  A lot of the physical signs weren't quite there yet, nor did the pain, I got from the contractions warrant a trip up to Labor and Delivery (L & D). I'm glad i didn't go, because at 5am this morning, they stopped till about 8am. Now I'm having constant back "ache", and the contractions are anywhere from 5-20minutes apart. They are quite a bit stronger, but again nothing that I'm going to up for L & D for yet.  It could stay like this till way past my due date, or we could be blessed with Peanut's arrival tomorrow.

It's all in God's hands. He knows Peanut's birthday, and the plan. Would be nice if He shared it with me. ;) So we'll take it semi-easy this weekend. Even though I've got the itch to get this house spotless from top to bottom, I need to work on Peanut's baby blanket, I'm close but not close enough to finish it. I wanted Peanut to come home with it. So hopefully the kids and Jessie will be on board to helping get the house ready. We also need to finalize plans for the kids' childcare/sleeping arrangements for once I go up to L & D. Somethings came up this morning, that don't make me comfortable with the arrangements we once had.

God Bless

36 weeks...

Well it's official, we are now at 9 month marker as of this past Saturday.  According to the count down calendar,  we have 24 days till due date, not counting today.  Spencer this weekend wanted to know when the baby was coming. When we told him anytime now, he's wanted a specific day.  Wouldn't we ALL like to know the day Peanut is going to make his/her arrival? lol. But where's the fun in that?

Things are slowly changing in my body, as it gets ready for the pending birth.I've noticed since late last week, a few changes. It will be interesting to see if there's been any physical changes  at my 37week appointment. I think things have changed slightly that way.  Nothing to get all excited about because these changes can take up the next 4 weeks, or cause me to go at the end of the week. :)  Some friends and family have started picking dates on when this peanut will make it's debut, but we'll see, who's the closest.

Jessie talked to the kids about helping a little more till after the baby is born, but we'll keep them helping with those few chores long after the baby is born. We don't see any reason why they have to stop doing chores just because the baby has arrived. It's not a whole hec of a lot of chores either, even though to the kids they are dying. lol.  I'm glad that he talked to them about it, because I'm not sleeping well at night for a variety of reasons, my body is making me slow down, it's been interesting having to squat and bend to pick up stuff. I swear there's been a few times I wasn't sure I was going to get back up. lol.  It's hard to get things done like the dishes, because the bump is getting into the way. Dawn is poking fun at me, but she's got questions too. So it's been an interesting journey for mother & daughter I think.

This past weekend, Dawn & I went scrapbooking for the day on Saturday, and when we came back Jessie surprised me with rearranging our bedroom and getting the crib set up in our room.  I've got all of Peanut's clothes washed and waiting. So between those two things, it feels like it's time. I'm getting really excited about the arrival now. I just want it to hurry up and get here, but on the one hand, I'll willing for it to wait till it's ready...for now.