Tuesday, January 31, 2012

An Update

Today has been a hard day for the baby.  She has been her happy self for about 85% of the day.  The other 15% of the day, it was very obvious that she was in a great deal of pain.  When she would cry, it was a very sad cry, it lasted long, and there wasn't much consoling her.  As she cried, she didn't look like herself.

I tried the techniques the doctor showed me to ease her pain and get the gas moving.  It worked pretty well, but not very quickly.  It is one of those times when you wish you could take your child's pain on yourself. 

Tonight, her aunt held her and managed to work a lot of the gas out of her.  She seems to be a lot more content now.  She is eating and thinking about going to sleep now.

I am going to call it a night.  Hope you all had a wonderful January!

Monday, January 30, 2012

A Scary Morning

This morning my baby woke up at about 7:45 am making a high-pitched screeching cry.  Then she stopped and started flailing her arms and put her head back.  She did it again.  I didn't know what was going on, as I had never seen anything like this in my life.  It scared me half to death.  I called 9-1-1.  I was trying to maintain my composure the best that I could.  The first thing that asked was my address and then the emergency.  I told them that my baby seemed to be having seizures.  To me, that is what it seemed like.  They had me make sure she was breathing and then told me what to do if it happened again.  They also told me to lay her on her side.  So I did.  It didn't happen again, thankfully.

While I was on the phone with the dispatcher, I had my son say a prayer.  I don't know what he said, because I was on the phone, but I know it helped.  My 7 year-old daughter heard me on the phone and she started crying.  The crying woke up my 4 year-old.  Everyone was awake by the time the EMT's got here.  The EMT's got here quite quickly, I would say within 5 minutes. 

My sister and my husband had already left for work.  I had my daughter call my sister.  She got the voice mail.  I sent my sister a text.  She didn't see it until she had gotten on the bus.  She called immediately.  When she got to work, she told them what was going on, and then came home.  I couldn't get a hold of my husband.  I don't have a direct line to him.

Anyway, the EMT's evaluated her.  They took her medical history (she doesn't have one).  They took her pulse, approximately 124 beats per minute.  They took her temperature and said 95.3.  I couldn't believe that!  I asked if that was normal because they didn't seem alarmed at all.  They said that their thermometer is 1 to 2 degrees off.  That made more sense to me.  I couldn't figure out how she could possible have such a low temperature.  I am glad I asked!  One of their first questions was also if she was always this pale.  I told them that all of us are quite white.  They looked over at my 4 year-old and understood what I meant.

They spent a good 10 or 15 minutes here.  The baby had woken up and was responding well.  The EMT's said that she didn't look like there was any problem.  They told me to call the pediatrician and get her evaluated there.  This was after assuring me that everything looked fine and asking if I still wanted her to go the hospital.  I told them that if they were sure she would be okay, I trusted them.  I called the doctor at 9 am and got an appointment for 10:45 am.

At the doctor's office, I explained what happened.  She asked about yesterday, and I told her that she seemed like she was in pain yesterday, maybe a stomach ache.  I had my sister hold the baby on her my sister's arm, belly down.  It seemed to ease the pain.  The doctor said that when a baby has seizures, they don't vocalize pain.  It just happens, then it is over.  She said that most likely the baby has acid reflux which can be quite painful.  This would explain the flailing and crying.  That put my mind at ease.  She also showed me some techniques to help out with gas and stomach pain. 

The doctor will call me on Friday to see what I think as far as the acid reflux.  I am supposed to watch for spitting up or pain when put on her back.  She doesn't seem to like to be on her back, which would explain a lot.  I am just so thankful for EMT's and a doctor that knows what is going on! 

The baby is resting peacefully now.  She is sound asleep on my stomach. I am so thankful that she is okay.  She gave me quite the scare this morning!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Back to Church

Today I went back to church.  I haven't been there since Christmas Day.  I have either not felt well or one of my children haven't felt well.  It was wonderful to be back.  I went to Sacrament Meeting for a little while, then had to go feed the baby, then got back to Sacrament for a few minutes before the closing song and prayer.

My 4 year-old didn't want to go to primary by himself.  He was crying and wanted me to go with him.  The baby and I went with him and stayed until about 15 minutes before it ended.  I then went in to Gospel Doctrine with my husband.  After that, they had combined men and women for the final class.  We watched a video about family history.  They then announced that they would like our ward goal to be to index 100000 names this year.  It would mean 200 names per month.  I can do that.  I love doing Family Search Indexing!

It was a wonderful day and it is so nice to be back at church!  I have missed the people and how nice it is to be there.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

A Trip to Salt Lake City

Last night, my brother gave my sister and I a call.  He said that the plane he was supposed to be taking had mechanical problems so he was being re-routed to Salt Lake City.  He said he and his wife would be arriving in Salt Lake around midnight and would be flying out at 11 am to go back to Washington State.  He asked if we would be able to come to see him.  We, of course, said yes.

We got up this morning about 6:30 am.  I had been awake since 5 am, my sister since 5:30, but we were trying to be quiet, and not wake anyone up.  So, we didn't get up.  I heard footsteps as soon as I got up to go to the bathroom and start getting ready.  My sister said she had been waiting to hear movement for an hour.

I asked my husband if he was going to go down to Salt Lake with us.  He said he wanted to, but he was tired.  I asked again, because I didn't want to wake up any children if he was going to be there anyway.  He decided to stay in bed.  My two oldest children woke up on their own and got ready to go.  I let my 4 year-old stay asleep and I brought my baby.  My husband wouldn't be able to do much to help her out if she got hungry.  I also knew that my brother and sister-in-law would love to meet the little one.

We all jumped in the van and headed first to Krispy Kreme.  My children each got 6 doughnuts for good grades!  We got a dozen free doughnuts and headed to Salt Lake with them.  They were hot :)  We went to Weight Watchers next.  I lost 2.2 pounds.  I am now into One-derland.  I was exactly 199 when I got weighed.  We then went to Salt Lake City.  We brought the doughnuts to share with them.

It was wonderful to get to see them.  It was only for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.  We got to visit and enjoy each other's company.  We all enjoyed the doughnuts.  My daughter was excited that their hotel served bacon on the complimentary breakfast.  She got some before we left. 

They both had their pictures taken with the baby.  I was so happy that they finally got to meet her.  I would have driven down to see them even if it would have been for a few minutes.  There is nothing like being with family.  Time always flies, but it is well worth the time!

I am excited to see my sister and nephew.  They are flying out in February to stay with us for a little over a week.  It will be a good time.  I look forward to all of us being together again.  I hope that we can all get together sometime this summer. We hope to go see my brother and his children in April, and I would love to go back to NY in April also.  We shall see!

My Blog2Print Book

Yesterday I got two packages in the mail.  I was excited.  I knew that one of the packages was my new battery for my computer.  My battery would only work for about 20 minutes, at the most, if it wasn't plugged in.  I had no idea what the other package was though.  I told someone else to open it, so my sister did.

After she opened it, she had my children bring it over to me.  When I opened the cover, it was my Blog2Print book.  I was very excited to see that!  The quality of the blog was very impressing.  It has nice sized pages and the cover pictures were beautiful.  It looks like it should last the test of time.

It is wonderful to have the blog in print.  I began my blog as an effort to start journaling our day-to-day activity.  I know the importance of keeping a journal, but I have not been good about doing it.  I like to know that my children will have a book showing them what we did when they were children.

I am planning to buy a Blog2Print each year.  Someday, I hope to have a large collection of books titled, "My Kids, My Husband and I."  I would recommend blogging to anyone that wants to keep a journal but really doesn't want to sit down and put a pen to paper.  It is much quicker for me to type it out than to write it out.


For just under $17, I was able to get just over 70 pages in a black and white book with a paperback cover.  I think that is a wonderful deal!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Calendars

A couple weeks ago, I started working on making my parents, my husband's parents and his grandmother a calendar.  I went to shutterfly.com and started the task.  It took several hours... I had to find the perfect pictures.  I had to make sure that I had everyone's birthday and anniversary correct.  I know everyone's dates on my side of the family, it is my husband's side that I was having problems with. 

I loved making the calendar.  Going through the pictures brought back a lot of memories.  I loved sorting through pictures, both old and new.  I found pictures of couples for their anniversaries, wedding pictures if possible.  I then had to find good pictures of each person for birthdays.  The neat thing you can do with shutterfly is put a picture of the person on their birthday.  You can also label it as their birthday.  I loved being able to personalize the calendars.

My parents got their calendar a few days ago.  My dad called me, from my mother's phone.  He told me that they got the calendar and they loved it.  They were on speaker so I could hear both Mom and Dad telling me.  It made me feel so good that I could think of something to give them.  I made a calendar for them a couple years ago too.  It is so difficult to think of a gift for them, since they have everything they need, and are trying to consolidate things so they don't have to move as much.  It was a late Christmas gift, but I think it was a good one.

Keith's mom called on Saturday because she got hers that day.  She thanked Keith for the gift.  I was happy that she received it and that she liked it.  There was one birthday on that side of the family that no one would confirm for me.  It is my nephew that will be 1 in February.  I was quite sure his birthday was Feb 21, and it seemed that way from e-mails between his mother and I and pictures that his Dad posted.  So, that is the day he went on.  I hope it is right. 

I always try to make sure that I get something for our parents and his grandmother.  We draw a name to buy for on my side of the family.  Someone assigns us a name to buy for on the other side of the family.  I think it is important to get the parents and grandma something yearly, just because if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be here. 

I am so thankful for my parents.  I was truly blessed with wonderful parents who love each of us children and grandchildren.  I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for them and their examples. 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Slinkies

My 8 year-old brought a slinky home from a party on Saturday.  It immediately became the big toy in the house.  My 4 year-old was crying because he didn't get one.  He didn't get one because he didn't go to the party.  He didn't go to the party because he wasn't invited.  My daughter didn't go either, since she wasn't invited.

This caused me to have to go on amazon.com and buy another slinky.  We found one that glows in the dark.  Since I have an Amazon Mom account, the slinky got here yesterday.  It wasn't a day too soon.  The slinky my 8 year-old got on Saturday was already tangled up.  My kids were playing slingshot with it.  I never played slingshot with my slinky.  I played jump rope with it, which tangled it up just as well.

My 4 year-old was very thrilled with his slinky.  He showed me how he was going to play with it.  He put one side in each hand and just wiggled it back and forth by moving his hands up and down.  That slinky lasted a day.  It would probably still be safe except for my older children got a hold of it.  While I was getting my son from school, my daughter decided to stretch it out and start twisting it around.  By the time I saw her and the slinky, the slinky was broken.  I thought she was kidding.  She wasn't.

My son was sad. I was able to unwrap about 1/3 of it and then cut it off with my Cutco scissors.  He got it and put one side on each hand and announced that it wasn't big.  I then got to continue to try to unwrap the other 2/3 of the slinky.  I managed to do it well enough that it made him happy.  I then taped the two halves together.

I think for now it is still intact.  I need to figure out a way to make them stick together better.  It is amazing how a little slinky can amuse so many children.

I know of things that shouldn't be done to slinkies if you want them to last.... do not play jump rope with it, do not play slingshot with it, do not stretch it out and then start twirling it.  Those things made the slinky owner sad!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

All Wrapped Up

Tonight I changed my  baby daughter's outfit.  When I checked her toes, like I have learned to do regularly, I discovered two of them had hair wrapped very tightly around them.  I never thought to check her toes until one evening my sister called me in to tell me that the baby had hair wrapped around her toe. Both times, the hair has been wrapped so tightly that it has left an indentation all the way around it. The baby cries and cries as I try to get it off.  I feel so bad for her.  I know it must hurt.

She doesn't cry until I start trying to detach the hair.  I don't know if her toe is so numb that it doesn't bother her until I start the detangling and ripping of the hair from the toe.  I just can't figure out how hair can get wrapped tightly around a toe or two.  She was wearing a footed sleeper.  I figure the hair must somehow get into the foot part of it.  I just don't know how it could perfectly wrap itself around the toes. 

Thankfully I realized it was there.  I don't know want to think about how long it would take to cut off circulation.  I am pretty sure she won't be wearing footed sleepers anymore.  Her toes are precious little things.  I would like her to keep them, and I am sure she would like the same thing, even though she doesn't know what they are yet.  It is my goal to make sure that her toes stay firmly attached.

Monday, January 23, 2012

When They Play Together

My children make me smile.  They are amazing little people trying to figure their place out in this world.  I remember being that age and not quite knowing what to expect from the world around me.  I did know one thing, my family would always be there for me.  I was right.  A day does not go by that I do not thank my Heavenly Father for sending me to the family I have.  They are my best friends.  I also don't let a day go by that I don't thank Heavenly Father for the children I have.  They are such a blessing to my life and I am thankful that I am blessed to have them.

I love when I walk in on them playing together.  I get nervous when things get quiet around here.  It isn't quiet very often when everyone is home.  If you are looking for a quiet place, I would not suggest coming to my house!  It is fun to walk in and see them playing dress-up (yes, my 7 year-old has convinced my 4 year-old son to play dress-up with her on occasion).  I think she is waiting for the day when she can start dressing up my baby.  She loves to pick out her outfits!

I have caught them playing board games or video games together also.  Recently the children had a friend over to all connect with their DS's and my daughter's DS has been gone ever since.  It is sad to me that they can't do that anymore.  My 8 year-old son lost his, although I think that should still be in our house somewhere.  My 4 year-old still knows where his is, thankfully!

It is fun to see the "tents" being built in the hallway.  It consists of a couple dining room chairs and a few blankets.  My daughter even fell asleep in the tent one night.  My husband moved her in to her bed.  She woke up and was awake for a while after that.  They build "hotels" on my couch.  It consists of the couch and a lot of couch cushions surrounding them. 

A lot of times they enjoy chasing each other around the house.  I feel sorry for the people that live below us.  I often have to remind the children that they are running on someone else's ceiling.

My children love to play together.  I am thankful for that.  I miss the days of playing with my brothers and sisters.  There were many a game of chase, freeze tag, kickball, football, volleyball, badminton.  You name it, we probably played it.  I hope my children have the same memories!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Oatmeal Cookies

I told my daughter that she could make oatmeal cookies today.  She was very excited.  It all went well until we needed 1 cup of sugar.  I told her where the sugar was.  She informed me that it wasn't there.  She reminded me that we used the rest of it when we made fudge on New Year's Eve.  She came out with the powdered sugar.  She wanted to use that, I told her no.  She said we would just have to have it without sugar then.  I allowed her to use the powdered sugar at that point. 

The cookies turned out okay, I guess.  I didn't eat any of them because my stomach hasn't been right today.  The dough tasted good though, so I imagine the cookies were good too.

The baby is still trying to get well.  I am still trying to get her well.  Poor thing still hates to get her nose sucked out and it still has to be done.

Hope everyone had a good Sunday!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Burping the Baby

All of my children are so helpful with the baby.  Sometimes it scares me, but they are quite careful with her.  I catch myself taking deep breaths when they walk around the house with her.  I enjoy the times when they just want to sit down and hold her.

I just finished feeding the baby and my 8 year-old came over and asked if he could burp the little one.  He likes to call her "the little one."  He is an amazing big brother.  He was too young to help out with his sister that is 13 mos and 13 days younger, but you could see how much he loved her the first time he saw her.  His dad held him up so he could see her, and he got a big smile.  There was recognition in his eyes.  I believe in the pre-mortal life.  I believe we were families before we came to earth.  It just makes sense to me.  I was shocked when I learned that others don't believe the same thing.

My 4 year-old still enjoys helping me change the diapers.  It is nice that he will ask if he can help out with the diaper change.  He is going to be a great husband!  What wife doesn't want help with a diaper change?!

My 8 year-old is sitting beside me with the baby talking to her.  It is funny to hear him get the high-pitched baby talk going on!  He is getting pretty good at that.  He will also push her in her baby swing.  Sometimes the swing gets turned off just so he can do that.

My 7 year-old daughter thinks having a sister is the best thing that could have ever happened.  She used to always ask me if I would have a baby sister for her.  I would explain that there was no guarantee what I would have.  The day I came home and announced that the baby would be a girl she jumped up and down on her bed with joy.  So did my other children.  She often tells me the baby that she is her only sister.  I think it is wonderful having both brothers and sisters.  I am glad she will have the same thing.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend so far.  I lost .2 pounds this week.  We have been getting snow all day, except for rain this morning.  :(

Friday, January 20, 2012

"What is Taxidermy?"

I was just sitting here wondering what I would write my blog about tonight.  I already wrote that my son and daughter have been sick.  I brought the baby to the doctor today and they tested her for RSV and the flu.  Thankfully both came back negative.  I don't like when my children have RSV.  I was happy to hear that was negative.

My daughter came out and asked me, "What is taxidermy?"  She didn't quite say it right, but it was close enough that I knew that was the word.  So I said, "Taxidermy?"  She said yes.  I told her that it is when an animal dies, you can get it stuffed.  My 4 year-old was right there.  He looked at me kind of oddly and ran off.  My daughter just kept looking at me, like I was crazy or kidding.  She couldn't decide which.  So, I told them that when someone's dog dies, and they love the dog and don't want to bury it, they can bring it to the taxidermist and get it stuffed.  Then they could set it next to them and still pet it.  I am not sure what they stuff them with, but I said with cotton.  She said, "Like a stuffed animal."  I knew she meant a toy. I have to admit, I prefer much prefer to have pets buried.  I don't think I would like seeing my dead pet regularly.

I then went on to ask her if she remembers the animals at the zoo and told her those are stuffed.  That really confused her.  I could tell by the look on her face that I had misspoke.  I then changed it to the animals at the museum.  She understood that, and seemed happy to know that the animals at the zoo weren't dead.  I think she was trying to figure out how dead animals could run around!  She told me that she just thought those animals were statues.  I told her they used to be alive.  It made sense to her and she went back to bed. 

I sure am glad that I realized that I said the animals at the zoo, instead of at the museum.  I am not sure she would have ever wanted to go back.  Who wants to see a bunch of dead animals running around?  I think that would be freaky!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Apron

I have a couple of aprons now.  I never really saw the point of having an apron until I heard that it is to keep my clothes clean.  I got them as gifts so I decided that I might as well keep them.  I have yet to tie one around my waist, but my daughter wears them regularly.  They are almost like a fashion accessory to her.  Right now, she is walking around the house in a dress, an apron, and a pair of her aunt's high heels.  She has even put her hair up! Perhaps I should start dressing up like that and I will feel more like tying on an apron.  My usual cooking attire is jeans, t-shirt and either barefoot or socks.

My daughter doesn't cook very often.  She does know how to make soup, whether it is a can or ramen noodles.  She can make some good scrambled eggs.  She knows how to cook pasta quite well also.  She enjoys helping out in the kitchen, which I think is important.  Although I don't plan on dying young  (or whatever I am considered at 38 or before my children are fully grown), I would like to know that my children would eat more than just pasta and sandwiches.

My four year-old son is also quite interested in anything cooking related.  He has enjoyed helping me out in the kitchen since he was almost 3.  I get nervous having him out there, especially since he is a big fan of stirring the noodles (in boiling water) or making his own scrambled eggs.  Thankfully we have an electric stove, so there isn't an open flame burning under the pan.  He won't eat scrambled eggs if he didn't make them himself.  I am also right beside him to supervise.

I'm not sure at what age I can expect the children to start cooking by themselves.  They have cookbooks and I try to encourage them to pick things they want to make.  My 8 year-old is the one that seems the least interested.  It is easy to make a bowl of cereal, right?  And a lot less time-consuming.  I think I may teach them to make pancakes this weekend.  They love chocolate chip pancakes...their grandma is famous for making them.  We don't have them often since almost the whole country separates us.

Hope you have all had a wonderful Thursday!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A Tear and a Giggle

My little daughter accomplished two things in the past 24 hours.  Last night, she cried her first tear... she had a tear run down her face to her ear, while I was using the nose sucker.  She has had tears in the past, but they never left her eyes.  She giggled tonight, a couple of times.  I think she did last night too, but immediately got the hiccups.  She got the hiccups again tonight when she giggled.  Poor little one, we my mom nicknamed her Princess Hiccup at about a week old.

She laughed at 4 days old, but it was a fluke, I am certain.  Her brother that was 3 years-old at the time, was flopping around on the couch and she let out a laugh.  She also laughed in her sleep one evening while my sister was holding her.  My sister laughed at a funny part of a show, I forget what we were watching, and then the baby just started laughing.  Probably lasted for at least a minute, but I didn't time it.

I'm wondering if taking fiber while nursing is affecting her.  It isn't really helping me too much, but she had one explosion out of the diaper tonight, and then a near explosion out of the diaper.  It was contained, thankfully!

Do you ever have days when you lose complete track of what day it is?!  Today I keep thinking it is Thursday.  There really is no reason why I would think that, but I keep needing to remind myself it is Wednesday. 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Nose Sucker

My baby is not a big fan of it.  I am not sure that she realizes what I am doing with it, until I put it in her nose and it starts doing its job.  It isn't a job that anyone would want to do.  I feel miserable when it makes her cry like she cries at no other time.  She has been stuffed up and I had to use it tonight.  She cried and cried.  She even cried her first tear to come out of her eyes.  It was really sad!  It took a few minutes to calm her down once I was finished. 

I am sure that once she can recognize the nose sucker and move on her own, she will run away, crawl away, or roll away.  Whatever her mode of transportation is at that time!

I ran a mile today.  It took a little under 12 minutes, I set the treadmill at 5.1 mph.  It will be nice when I have the endurance that I used to have.  It is crazy how a mile almost kills me.  I am just going to be taking it easy til the mile or mile and a half is easy on me. 

Hope you all had a great day!

Monday, January 16, 2012

A Big Discovery

To be a little baby again!  It is amazing to watch the little one as everything is new to her.  She has been on earth for a little more than 3 months, I can hardly believe it has been that long.  It is awe-inspiring to watch her.

The other day she had on a sleeper that had zebra faces for the feet.  When she saw those, she couldn't take her eyes off of them.  She just kept staring.  I think it was the first time she realized that she had something down that low.  The faces she would make at them would just make me laugh.  She was so intrigued by whatever it was!

She has started to really check out her hands recently also.  She will hold them in a fist and turn them back and forth.  She will then open them and look at them again.  It is funny that something so common to us can be so intriguing to a baby.  It is amazing to watch a child grow!

Her swing has a little bar that goes across that has bears hanging down where she can see them.  Yesterday we were going to record her looking at those bears.  If you have ever seen a baby smile so big that you know she loves what she sees, then you know the smile she was giving those bears.  She didn't want them to have any doubt about the way she feels for them.  By the time the recorder was ready to start, she had moved on to looking at something else. 

I look forward to when everyone in my family can meet the little one.  So far, only my mother, my sister who lives with us, and my husband's brother has met her from the family.  My other sister and her son will be visiting me in February, so the baby will get to meet them.  I need to bring her over to meet my sister-in-law and her children.  Once everyone is well I plan to do that.  The baby has had the sniffles lately, and as I wrote the other day, my son has been sick too.

It is funny, I just looked down and she was sucking like crazy on her top lip.  She gave up quickly, she must have realized that she wasn't getting any nourishment from it. 

An update on my resolutions... I haven't been running like I planned to.  It has been a couple weeks.  I am going to start tomorrow... I know, the good ole tomorrow excuse, but I really am.  I have been doing my push-ups daily.  Yesterday I did 100 with my hands on the couch and the other 112 on the wall.  I did 100 crunches and 40 leg lifts on each leg.  Today, only 50 with my hands on the couch, other 162 on the wall.  My shoulder is bothering me. 

Hope it was a good Monday for everyone!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Washington, D.C.

A few years ago, my brother lived about 45 minutes from Wasington, D.C., for a year.  We made a trip down to his place about once a month, and they would make the trip up to NY about once a month.  It was wonderful to be that close as a family for a year.

We would go into D.C. every time we went to visit.  There was so much to see that it couldn't all be done in one trip.  My children, especially my daughter, absolutely loved the Museum of Natural History.  I think we would go to that one every time we went to D.C.  It was fun to get to see the dinosaur bones and the mammal exhibit.  We always enjoyed the saltwater fish exhibit as well.  We would find Nemo and Dori.  We also got to see the insect room and the Hope Diamond. 

My mom and sisters would go to the National Archives to do some family history research.  I didn't have a pass to get in.  I would stay with the children while they did that. 


There is so much to do in D.C.  My daughter wrote as one of her resolutions for this year is to go back to D.C.  I am not sure that will happen, but I guess we can give it our best try.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Old Family Pictures

I have been going through pictures today.  It has been a lot of fun.  I found a file with our first family pictures.  I didn't know that Keith had saved them.  It was him, me and my oldest son as an infant.  It is absolutely adorable!  It made me laugh seeing him that young again.  He was a little, chunky fella.  Now he is a slim child.

I enjoy going through pictures.  It is such a blessing to live in an age when we can take pictures and if we don't like them, just delete them and take another.  I remember the day of the old 35 mm film, when you could just hope and pray that the pictures turned out, at least, okay.  Couldn't hope for everyone to look wonderful, but okay was good enough. 

I need to get back into scrapbooking.  It was always a lot of fun to put the memories on paper and journal the different photos.  It is amazing seeing how much children change and how quickly it happens.  Before I know it, my baby will be in school! 

Cough, Cough, Hack, Hack Goes My 4 Year-old

My 4 year-old is sick.  He started coughing on Wednesday, by Wednesday night I could tell that he wasn't feeling well at all.  He started running a fever and by 1 in the morning I was running the nebulizer giving him a breathing treatment.  He had a fever of almost 101.  So, the meds started coming.  Thankfully, he likes medicine.

I gave him cough medicine and ibuprofen.  This was after the breathing treatment.  We call it the cloud machine, it makes it a little more enjoyable than just sitting still with a piece in your mouth breathing.  This is my child that had RSV at 3 weeks old.  It has been almost exactly 4 years since that incident landed us in the hospital. 

He was initially diagnosed with with RSV on Jan 6, 2008.  He had stopped breathing long enough for the area around his mouth to turn blue.  It wasn't very long, but it was long enough for me to call the ambulance.  We spent several hours in the ER, just to have the doctor tell me had RSV.  He sent me home with my 20 day old baby telling me to make sure that he kept breathing.  Needless to say, I was a wreck.  By the time I got to the doctor a few hours later, I had no sleep in more than 30 hours, been crying a lot, and had the hormones that go along with being postpartum working against me.  His pediatrician immediately arranged for him to be admitted to the hospital, she said we both needed it.  That he needed to be monitored and I needed to be able to sleep, knowing that he would be well taken care of.  I miss his pediatrician... she was wonderful, but we moved 1900 miles west.  He was well taken care of and discharged from the hospital the next day.

Today he is doing much better.  I know when he needs to have his breathing treatments.  I keep them handy.  I give it to him on an as needed basis.  I give it to him when he starts developing a cough.  I am still giving him allergy medicine (instead of cough medicine) and ibuprofen.  His nose is running like crazy, but the medicine seems to help.  He is still his cheerful self even when he is sick.  He just gets agitated a lot easier.

I am thankful for healthy children.  It is sad to me when they get sick.  I worry about them a lot when they get sick.  Thank goodness for cans of soup!  They love to have soup and it gives them fluid as well as nutrition.

Friday, January 13, 2012

My 4 Year-old was the VIP at School

On Wednesday, my 4 year-old was the VIP of his preschool class.  That is what they call the child that is having the birthday celebration.  His birthday was Dec 20, but they were off school that week.  My son got to do a poster of things that he likes.  He was allowed to put pictures of family on it, cut out pictures from magazines, and draw on it.  We traced his hand and I put the date on it.  He put the most recent picture of his siblings and himself.  He cut out some pictures from a magazine... he put a picture of some dogs, vitamins, toothbrush and toothpaste and Legos.  He is a big fan of Legos.  We taped an empty pack of gum to the poster and a Hot Wheels car. 

He was so excited to get to school.  I bought Whales which is a generic version of Goldfish.  I think you get twice as many of them for the same price as you get Goldfish crackers for.  He loves Goldfish, but I would have had to buy two packs of them in order for him to be able to share with his whole class.  His older sister was very excited that there were some left after school. 

When I picked him up from school, he was glowing.  I could tell he had a wonderful celebration, and his teachers gave him a gift.  He also had a Happy Birthday crown on his head.  It is always nice to get to celebrate your birthday more than once.  I know, I was born just after Christmas on the 29th, so thankfully, I have never been in school on my birthday.

He is such a fun little fellow.  You could see the happiness in his eyes as we worked on his poster together.  I took a picture of him and the poster, but I have no clue where the camera went, and my husband is sleeping.  I will post a picture soon though.  He was so proud of that poster.  It is still at school.  I think we will hang it on his wall when he brings it home.

Do you remember being the birthday child at school?  I remember my mom bringing treats for the whole class.  I always felt so special!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Utah Jazz Game

Tonight I took my children to their first NBA game.  It was the Utah Jazz vs the Cleveland Cavaliers.  It was a great game.  The Jazz ended up winning 113-105.  We left with two minutes left in the 2nd half.  We wanted to get out before all the traffic. 

My children didn't really seem to care much for it.  My 8 year-old chose to play his Nintendo DS, my daughter wished she had brought a book, and my 4 year-old looked at me for most of the game.  He kept asking if we could go home.  It was late by the time we got out of there and to our car.  It was 9:51 pm.  They are usually in bed by 8:30 pm so I can't blame them much.  My 3 month old is the one that seemed to enjoy it the most.  She liked all the lights I think!

We got the tickets for under $25 off of StubHub.  That is 6 tickets for under $25.  I couldn't pass up such a great deal.  It was in the nosebleed section.  Pretty much as high up as you could possibly sit.  My sister sat down lower because of her vertigo.  She can't go to such high places. 

Well, I am tired.  Hope you all had a great night!

Monday, January 9, 2012

I Found the Public Library Today

We have lived here for almost 10 months and today I finally located the public library.  It was about 3 miles away, so my kids won't be walking to the library.  I probably wouldn't have gone looking for it, except for my 7 year-old daughter is a little bookworm.  I don't have time to read these days, even though I should really make time for it.  She actually cried when I announced that we would do it later this week.  She reminded me promptly that I told her I would bring her today. 

After I filled out the form for the library cards, she grabbed her card and ran to the children's section.  She got a couple Veggie Tales DVD's and then a Magic Treehouse book and a Chronicles of Narnia Voyage of the Dawn Treader or something like that.  I never was interested in the Chronicles of Narnia series, or the Lord of the Rings series. 

After we finished at the library, we went grocery shopping.  We were on the end of town with one of the grocery stores, so I figured we might as well do some shopping.  The lasagna was on sale there for $3 less than where I bought one a couple weeks ago.  I bought a family size pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a family size pack of boneless pork chops.  I also bought some Italian sausage and pepper and onion.  This should be a yummy week of food, I'm excited.

I did my 212 wall push-ups for today.  I have done more push-ups in the past 7 days than I have in the past 7 years, I think.  It is for a good cause, so I will continue to do them.  I haven't been as diligent with my New Year's resolution as I should be.  I need to start really doing them.  I just have a really bad time finding the time.

Hope everyone had a good Monday!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Photo Card

Clever Cadence Pink Baby Announcements
Shutterfly has cute baby announcements and Valentine's Day cards.
View the entire collection of cards.

My Baby Likes Football

I have hoped that I would give birth to a person that would enjoy watching football with me.  I finally did it!  My baby is a fan of football already.  Thankfully!

It is nice to have a little one sitting here watching the game.  She even cries if I block her view of the game.  I just hope that it continues past the first few months of life.

My 4 year-old son has exclaimed loudly his dislike for the sport.  Perhaps he will enjoy playing the game.  I won't steer him in any direction.  He will have to pick his sport himself, as have the older two children.  They have both seemed to pick soccer, although it has caused arguments on the floor during the game.  They have only played indoor soccer in the gym at the YMCA.

Last night I sent my blog off to be printed from July 23 - Dec 31.  I started this blog as a journal for the family.  I am excited to see it in book format.  It will be a black and white book with 76 pages (I believe) for $16.55 from Blog2Print.  I will let you all know how it turns out.

I have finished my push-ups for the day.  I did 7 knee push-ups, and 205 wall push-ups.  My shoulder isn't strong enough yet to do knee push-ups.   I hurt!

My kids went sledding this morning.  My youngest son cried because he forgot his gloves.  He then blamed my sister and I for forgetting to put them on him.  I guess I should have paid closer attention.  He came back in, got warmed up, had them put on, and went back out.  They are at church right now.  I am at home, guess that is obvious, with the baby.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

The White Stuff Came

Anyone that knows me, knows I don't like snow.  I could go a lifetime without ever  seeing it again, and this includes on Christmas.  My children are my opposites.  They saw snow out the window and they were really happy about it.  I had to go out and get weighed at Weight Watchers (I lost 1.8 lbs since Dec 23), and I always go to Wal-Mart to get ice cream afterward.  I figured that since I was there, I would buy each of the children a sled.  We have a nice little hill in our courtyard so they can sled out there.

Upon returning home from Wal-Mart, I showed them what I got them.  They were really excited.  They had to clean their bedrooms before they could go outside and use them.  I got them each their favorite color for their sled.  The oldest got a green one, my 7 year-old daughter got a pink one, and my 4 year-old son got a blue one.  The green one doesn't seem to hold up very well.  He broke the first one, so we brought it back.  He then went out with the second one and that one broke too.  I am not returning it until Monday.  My children got several hours of enjoyment out of the sleds today.






They also got to share with their friends.  I saw them letting their friends use the sleds also.  I thought this was really nice of them.  I went to a local thrift store and bought the two boys a snowsuit.  The one I got for the oldest didn't fit him, but the one for my youngest son did fit him.  I have to bring the other back.  He looks super cute in it.  I have to find another one for him and then find one for my older daughter as well.  I got them each a pair of mittens also.  I hate to think of the children being cold.  I got the mittens at the Dollar Tree and it came with 2 pairs... so they were 50 cents each.  Not too bad, seeing how they usually get lost quickly. 

I am thankful that my children don't hate snow.  This gave them a lot of exercise (and Vitamin D) running up and down the hill.  The nice thing is, they don't think of it as exercise.  They think of it as fun.  Isn't that how exercise should be?

I look forward to getting back into the 40s and 50s, but for now, the kids will enjoy what we are getting!

Friday, January 6, 2012

My Children Want to Earn a Wii

My children have wanted a Nintendo Wii ever since they first learned what one was, which was when their uncle got one.  I am not into video games, so I have never really cared that all they have is their Nintendo DS and a Nintendo 64.  My youngest son has been asking me to win a Nintendo Wii for about three months.  There is no way to win one, that I have seen.  I asked my sister if her husband and son still play the Wii, and she said not too often.  I told her that my son really wants one.  All my children want one, but my youngest son REALLY wants one. 

Today she spoke to her husband about it.  He wanted to trade it in to Game Stop.  He called to see how much he would get for everything.  He then said he would let me have it for less than that (since I'm family).  Thank you!

My children now have a goal.  They want to earn that Wii.  My sister would be bringing it out to us when she comes to visit.  They now know that I expect them to help clean around the house daily, without crying or whining.  That is how they will earn it.  This isn't a cheap little gadget... I think it is fair that they earn it.  They should appreciate it more.  I let them know that if they don't keep up their end of the deal, I will call and tell their uncle to trade it in.

They also know that it is going to consist of teamwork.  They all have to help.  Not just one of them, or two of them, but all three of them.  If they are going to play together, they can work together too.  This was day one.  It had a few hitches, but it went over quite well. 

I am looking forward to having a clean house and not needing to hear the children argue with me about doing their chores.  I will have them continue their housework in order to be able to play on the Wii.  I am excited for them to actually have it.  I know that they enjoyed playing it when we lived closer to their uncle and cousin. 

My daily update... I completed my 212 push-ups.  I did 192 on the wall and 20 on a picnic table.   They are getting easier to do, which is nice!  I ran 1/4 mile.  Something kept telling me to turn around, so I did.  I have learned to listen to that still, small voice.

Tonight we had chicken tacos for dinner.  Tomorrow we will have Garlic Chicken (at least that is the plan), and Sunday we will have Thai Chicken pizza from Papa Murphy's.  I will pick it up tomorrow.  It looks really good :)

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Ten Things About the Mommy in Me

Ten Things About the Mommy in Me
  1. I am a Mama Bear.  I protect my children (and my family) with every fiber of my being. 
  2. I will not be a mommy that will ever say, "My child would never do that."  That was something I decided a long time ago when I would hear other mothers say that, when I knew their child did do "that."  I will listen to what the person says and then have a talk with my child.
  3. I will stay up all night with a sick child.  My mother did that for me, I will do that for my children.  It will take me a long time to catch up on the sleep I missed, but that is okay.
  4. I will teach my children correct principles and let them govern themselves (as adults).  I have to believe that they will know right from wrong.  Of course, for now, I can't let them do much by themselves.
  5. I will always let my children know that I love them.  I may not love something that they have done, or a choice they have made, but I love them regardless.
  6. I will try to cook them good meals that will help them grow strong and healthy.  We will have chocolate, almost daily, but they get a good dinner too.
  7. I feel bad for my children when they get in trouble.  I am sometimes the one that has to discipline them, and I hate doing that, but it is for their good.  I believe that children have to know that there are consequences to their decisions.
  8. I am not afraid to die, but I do worry about the what would happen to my children if I did die.  We are not guaranteed any amount of time on earth.  I believe it is imperative to always let people know that you love them (if, in fact, you do.).  That is how I was raised.  We don't let a good-bye end without telling family we love them.
  9. I try to always let my children know how proud I am of them.  They all have special characteristics which make them unique.  I try to point those out to them.  
  10. There is nothing like having my child tell me he or she loves me.  It melts my heart, especially if it is unsolicited.  When I tell them I love them, they say it back to me, but it is really nice when they just say it out of nowhere.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Walk Home

Today it is absolutely beautiful outside.  Actually, it isn't 68 to 72 degrees, but to be January and living in Utah, I consider the high 40s to be absolutely beautiful.  When I walked outside to bring my 4 year-old son to school,  I realized how nice it was.  It was too late to walk to school with him, so we drove.  On the way there, I asked him if he wanted to walk home from school this afternoon.  He said yes.  Then he remembered how cold his hands got the last day of school before Christmas, and decided that he didn't want to walk.  I told him that he wouldn't get that cold, there isn't even snow on the ground.  He then decided that he did want to walk.

I got the baby dressed appropriately for a walk, I put her in the baby carrier (I need a new one), filled up my Brita water bottle which has a filter and off we went.  It took about 10 minutes to get there.  I got my 4 year-old and my 7 year-old.  My 7 year-old told me that my 8 year-old already started walking home.  We then started our trek back to the apartment.  It was a nice walk with the children.  I told them that if tomorrow was as nice, we would be walking again.  I don't see any reason to use gas money if I can walk and not worry about falling on ice.  When we arrived home, my 8 year-old was already here.  We decided where we would be meeting tomorrow.

While we walked home we got to talk.  It is nice to have time to spend just talking with the children about nothing in particular, just shooting the breeze.  My 7 year-old daughter shared some raisins with my 4 year-old son while we walked home.  I thought that was nice of her.  She offered to share, he didn't even have to ask.  It is times like that which make me smile.

Last night, my husband, kids (except for my baby), and I went to the gym.  I did the treadmill and elliptical machine while I watched the first half of The Biggest Loser.  My sister likes to watch NCIS which is at the same time.  My children ran around in there.  Before we went to the gym, I had gone for a 1.47 mi run.  I figure if I am going to be getting back into shape, I should get serious about it.  I have finished my 212 wall push-ups for the day, today.  I am honored to be doing them.  I am thankful for painkillers too!  I knew that I would be sore, but this morning I could barely move.  I will continue to push through the pain for this cause.

My 4 year-old is currently protesting needing to help clean the house.  My older two children are doing it willingly.  It is nice to have them cooperating. 

I am going to start dinner... we are having shrimp fried rice with salad.  We were going to have baked chicken with couscous and salad.  The chicken isn't completely thawed yet.  That will be tomorrow's meal. 

What did you do today?  What are your dinner plans?  I can always use suggestions!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Spiderman and a Push-Up Update

Today was my children's first day back at school.  They got up on time and got out the door in plenty of time to get there.  I was worried about that, since they had been staying up way too late recently and sleeping past their usual time to wake up.  Last night, they were sent to bed at 8:30 pm.  They got to stay there until they went to sleep.  It was a little while, but it worked.

After I picked my children up from school, my 4 year-old informed me that he watched "Spiderman."  He watched it about a week ago.  Today is the day that he wanted to talk about the movie.  He told me that the boy got bit by a spider.  He then told me that Spiderman could shoot things from his hand.  My son then told me that Spiderman turned into a superhero when he got bit.

I explained to him that when people get bit by spiders it hurts really bad.  I told him that it puts poison in our bodies.  He counteracted by telling me that we turn into superheroes when we get bit.  I explained again that we really don't want to get bit by a spider.  Now I am somewhat concerned that he might go looking for a spider to bite him.  As far as I know, there are no black widows or brown recluse spiders in the area, which is promising.  He really wants to be able to shoot things from his wrist...

Have any of you had to explain that we don't have any of the superpowers that we might see on television?  Did your child attempt to use a superpower anyway?  It is amazing how influential they are!

On another note, I completed my 212 push-ups for the day, all wall push-ups but they are done.  I am still hoping to get out for a run, but I am not sure when my husband will be arriving home.  Is there anyone else joining me with the push-ups?  Please leave a comment if you are, thank you :)

Monday, January 2, 2012

A Push-Up Challenge Worth Taking

I was on Twitter today when I saw the hashtag #Patriotpushups whiz by.  I had to see what that was all about.  Upon getting to that search, I saw that it was a man that served in both the Afghanistan and Iraqi Wars stating that he was going to do a push-up for each American soldier killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.  When asked what that number was he stated that it was 6347.  When the blogger did the math, it comes out to 212 push-ups a day starting Jan 2. 

Due to a shoulder injury, I can't start out doing that many on the floor.  I am starting out by doing wall push-ups.  I am feeling it already and I have only done 60.  I will have to start earlier in the day tomorrow, but for tonight, I will get them done. 

Please read  the original blog at: http://funandfit.org/2012/01/push-ups-for-patriots/comment-page-1/#comment-16294.  I put this challenge up to anyone that cares to do it.  I feel that it is the least I can do.  Like I said, wall push-ups count.  I will keep you all updated on this challenge.   I feel honored to be able to do this.  I have to get to my running also.  That will start tomorrow. 

Let me know if you are taking the challenge.  I would love to have some friends and/or family join me.  Hope the 2nd day of the New Year has been good to you!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

My New Year's Resolutions

2012 is here!  Can anyone believe it?!  It seems like I was just ringing in 2011.  I have a hard time believing how quickly the years fly by.  Doesn't seem right!  My children seem to get older daily.  They are truly the best things that ever happened to me.  This is where my first resolution comes:  I will continue to strive to be the be the best mother I can be.

I gained 50 pounds with my pregnancy.  Much of it I believe can be attributed to the Prednisone, which I continue to take.  I sometimes feel like I am fighting a losing battle with Prednisone in the weight loss department.  I will not give up though.  This resolution has a few parts.  I would like to lose 50 lbs this year, that will be less than 1 pound a week on average, which is totally doable.  I want to run at least 5 miles a week in January, 7 miles a week in February, 10 miles a week in March.   I want to exercise at least 5 days a week for 30 minutes a day.  I want to run a half marathon by the end of the summer.

My next resolution will deal with my peace of mind.  I always feel so much better when I have a clean house.   I will spend at least 30 minutes a day working on keeping a clean house.  I know that once it is clean, it won't take that long to keep clean.

This resolution will deal with spirituality.  I will read my scriptures daily for at least 5 minutes.  I can find 5 minutes a day to read uplifting words.  I will do my Visiting Teaching monthly.  I can do better than I did in 2011 as far as my spiritual goals.

I will blog more frequently.  I love to blog.  I love to sit down and write about the day in my family.  My goal is to have it printed off and bound in a book for my children on a yearly basis.  I do horrible at writing in their journals, so this is why I decided to blog.  I want them to know about what happened in their family on a regular basis.

I hope that 2012 is better than 2011.  I am thankful for all the friendships that I made in 2011.  I look forward to this year and seeing what happens.  I look forward to seeing how my children mature in this year.  I look forward to seeing my family again, whenever that may happen.  It is hard to plan a trip with 4 little children.  It is expensive to fly and it is a long road trip for them if I were to drive.  I would love to win a Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes :)  I know Ed McMahon wouldn't be showing up on my door, but it would be nice if someone would! 

Thank you to my friends who understand that just because I don't see them often, it doesn't mean that I don't love you and think about you often.  You are in my prayers always and I always want the best for you.  I love to read on Facebook about your successes.  I have the best family and friends around.  May you all have a wonderful 2012 and all your dreams come true!