Posts
Good Morning all!
I definitely have been MIA recently, but I promise not with out good reason. First, I was slightly gun shy after the responses from my last rant, second, I have four kids!?!, and of course, third, my house has been on quarantine for the last week, and I feared getting you sick even through the computer.
We are not a family that gets sick. And, even if one of us does, the rest of us usually don't get to join in on that party! I read a statistic once (okay, this weekend, in American Baby magazine) that the average child gets a cold 8-12 times a year until they turn 5. I can count on one hand the number all of my kids combined have been sick, and that includes the chicken pox outbreak of 2007! We just don't get sick! That is, until Mason started going to school. Yet another reason for considering home schooling, I suppose.
First, Charlotte started with the runny nose watery eye thing. We took her to the chiro, one adjustment, and Poof! no more runny nose. Nipped that one in the bud, we are in the clear. HAHA right!
The next morning she woke up and said her throat REALLY hurt. She tends to be a little bit of a drama queen, but I let her hang out in my bed and watch TV and have juice and yogurt and anything else smooth she asked for. Then, Mason came home from school and said his throat hurt. Being as considerate as I am, I told him just because his sister was getting to sit in my bed was no reason to pretend he was sick.
Oh, then my throat started to hurt and I went and apologized to my children for saying that they would be fine. I thought I was going to die! Remember that commercial from the 80's where the little kid grabs her neck and says "I've got a porky-pine in my froat"? That was what it felt like.
Then Levi's eye started watering, and the baby started sneezing. Oh No! I sat pitifully surrounded by sick kids until Daddy came home to take over so I could get some sleep. Or that was what I thought would happen any way. Lucky for us, Daddy got sick too. He came home, curled up on the couch and pretty much stayed in that position all weekend. By Saturday morning we had polished off 2 boxes of tissue, the kids had absolutely destroyed the house due to lack of competent adult supervision (apparently even being sick doesn't really slow down 4 kids ability to take out everything in the play room), we had run out of clear liquids to drink, and my small stash of cold meds was depleted.
I reluctantly got dressed and took a couple kids to WalMart to replenish our supplies. I came home and resumed my sick position on the couch and pretty much fell asleep. At about 10:30 PM, our new tenants called and said they were about to reach town and would like us to meet us at the house with the keys and the lease. I had expected them earlier, but they also were not have such a great day (blew up a tire on their trailer, couldn't find the jack, etc) so I agreed to meet them out there. I probably looked like I had been hit by a truck, but at that point, I didn't really care.
I got all of that taken care of, came home desperately wanting to go to sleep, but instead I was greeted by a screaming baby, who by my assumption, had gotten to the sore throat portion of the looming virus. Garrett and I hung out in the living room until he finally passed out (probably from exhaustion) and we slept curled up together, coughing and sneezing for a few hours.
Sunday morning, the bigger boys seemed to be ALL BETTER because they were up at about 6:30 rearing to go! So, mommy got up and played referee for awhile. Daddy remained sick (men are soooo pitiful) for the rest of the day.
We spent a little time last night picking up the disaster formerly known as my house, but there is oh so much more to do today. Today, although that porky-pine still calls my throat home, and now the inside of my ears have begun to itch (crazy and awful symptom!) I must UNSICK my house. I don't care if it is 50 and raining I am going to open all of my windows, wash all the sheets (and probably hand them on the line outside for extra freshness protection!), scrub the yuckness out of the kitchen and bathrooms, and then take a nap! Anyone want to come and help? I'll pass out paper masks at the door!
Have a great day and take that vitamin C!!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
No offensive material here
My child thinks he's Spiderman, is this a problem? He continually tries (sometimes rather successfully) to scale the walls of every room, hallway, shopping center, and bathroom stall we come in contact with. I frequently find him perched in doorways high above my head.
On one hand I marvel at the strength necessary to accomplish some of his acrobatic feats. On the other, I cringe at the thought of having to tell a Dr. in the ER that my child's arm or leg is broken due to an 8 foot fall from the ceiling. We bought him a chess set, hoping to wrangle in his creative side. He did learn to play, but more frequently he spends time trying to balance the pieces on top of each other.
He got a baseball bat and ball. He got pretty good at hitting the ball, but just the other day I found him trying to figure out how to stand on the end of the bat as it stood on the ground.
Tonight, we went out for ice cream and he scaled the side of the building by using the order window ledge and a few "holds" on the side of the brick. I suppose Spiderman is better than Superman (no attempting to fly) but good golly the kid is going to give me a heart attack.
On one hand I marvel at the strength necessary to accomplish some of his acrobatic feats. On the other, I cringe at the thought of having to tell a Dr. in the ER that my child's arm or leg is broken due to an 8 foot fall from the ceiling. We bought him a chess set, hoping to wrangle in his creative side. He did learn to play, but more frequently he spends time trying to balance the pieces on top of each other.
He got a baseball bat and ball. He got pretty good at hitting the ball, but just the other day I found him trying to figure out how to stand on the end of the bat as it stood on the ground.
Tonight, we went out for ice cream and he scaled the side of the building by using the order window ledge and a few "holds" on the side of the brick. I suppose Spiderman is better than Superman (no attempting to fly) but good golly the kid is going to give me a heart attack.
An explaination, not an appology.
Within minutes of posting my last blog, it was brought to my attention that it may be offensive to some of my faithful readers (friends, family). Please note that this was NOT AT ALL my intention.
I am so aggravated at the lack of information and options given to women of our generation and the generations before and after us. If no one questions the direction of our society, and we blindly traverse forward, how can we ever expect change to happen?
This was NOT intended to reflect my opinions about anyone that I know personally. I know that each of you who have been faced with any of the various circumstances I portrayed in the last post made the decision that was best for you at the time, with the information you had been presented with. You all have beautiful children and I am proud of you for bringing them into the world.
As intelligent, educated people, we need to look out for our daughters and our granddaughters and provide them with the best possible scenarios in life.
Please put aside any angry feelings you have about what I wrote and take it at face value. If your opinions are different then mine, I respect them. If your choices are different from mine, I honor them. That is what our boys are fighting for, right?
Hopefully this goes a little towards making clear my point, as I have chosen not to delete the last post. Or, quite possibly, I have dug my hole deeper?
I am so aggravated at the lack of information and options given to women of our generation and the generations before and after us. If no one questions the direction of our society, and we blindly traverse forward, how can we ever expect change to happen?
This was NOT intended to reflect my opinions about anyone that I know personally. I know that each of you who have been faced with any of the various circumstances I portrayed in the last post made the decision that was best for you at the time, with the information you had been presented with. You all have beautiful children and I am proud of you for bringing them into the world.
As intelligent, educated people, we need to look out for our daughters and our granddaughters and provide them with the best possible scenarios in life.
Please put aside any angry feelings you have about what I wrote and take it at face value. If your opinions are different then mine, I respect them. If your choices are different from mine, I honor them. That is what our boys are fighting for, right?
Hopefully this goes a little towards making clear my point, as I have chosen not to delete the last post. Or, quite possibly, I have dug my hole deeper?
Argh
If you are easily offended by me on a regular basis....Please stop reading now.
I just got an email from a friend of mine who is expecting her second child. In it, she was complaining about how her Dr. is insisting on a scheduled C-section because her first labor ~ according to the Dr.~ was such a disaster. She "failed to progress" and had to be rushed for that "emergency C-section". It doesn't matter to the Dr. that they medically induced her at 38 weeks because "that baby is huge!" and the poor kid came 2 weeks early fairly traumatically and only 6.5 lbs.
This same friend was also discouraged by her Dr. and her mother from breastfeeding her little guy because he was a bit colicky and a puker. Their constant nagging of how he probably wasn't getting enough milk, he's still hungry, you can't let him just cry....blah blah blah.... made her lose any confidence in herself she might have had and she quit breast feeding all together. (surprise surprise the formula didn't make any difference in his puking and he was still colicky, he just was gassier and smelled worse when he threw up!)
I am soooo frustrated at the medical field, my friends' lack of confidence in themselves, and society as a whole. For thousands of years women have been having babies. Long before insane medical intervention (less than 100 years ago!) society continued to thrive, babies were born (sometimes by the dozen to the same woman!), and life went on. Jesus was born in a stable, not Rush Memorial. I am not Anti-medical advancement. So many great things have come from science and medicine, allowing us to live longer and healthier lives. HOWEVER, a major abdominal surgery, narcotic pain killers, IV fluids, and staples are NOT necessary parts of child birth.
The United States ranks 23rd out of the 26 industrial countries in the world in infant mortality. That means that 22 other countries have a lower percentage of babies die each year. Yet, the United States ranks 1st in the number of C-sections performed yearly (nearly 48% of all deliveries are C-sections in the U.S. while the rest of the world hovers around or below 5%) Does anyone else see the correlation here?
No where else in the world do so many women feel compelled to go to the hospital to "deliver" their baby. In fact, in Europe or Latin America, if you say you were born in a hospital, you will be questioned on what was wrong with you at birth.
So many women I know have been convinced to schedule their surgery because there is "a risk of uterine rupture" if they were to try to have their 2nd, 3rd, 4th baby vaginally. Yet, there is NO MEDICALLY DOCUMENTED case that EVER a woman's uterus rupture during labor from a previous cesarean. Vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) is a realistic and viable option that is rarely given to women who don't ask about it. If I hear "My Dr. said I have to have a C-section" one more time I am going to scream! Find a different friggin Dr! Question what medical fact requires you to have a surgery to bring your baby into the world instead of naturally like your body intended! Ask some questions people!!
After listening to my friends' reasons (i.e. excuses) on why they are scheduling (or worrying they will have) a cesarean, I can only shake my head.
"My baby will be too big." Too big for what? I know women who have had 9, 10, even 12 lb babies vaginally (and naturally for that matter). They all survived. None of them ripped in two or did not recover from labor. They can all still walk, function, raise their children. So I ask, too big for what? Believe me, that thing will stretch! (have you seen the size of my kids' heads?!?)
"I am past my due date." Hello? You have passed some arbitrary date set by your Dr. on when she thinks you might be done cooking that kid? Oh, yeah, your Dr. knows more about your body than you, or your body itself. I promise you will not hold on to a baby until its first day of preschool. At most your looking at a couple extra weeks. (believe me, it sucks!) However, you have got to trust that there has to be a reason for it!
"I might tear." You know they use a scalpal for a C-section, right?
"My Dr. is going to be out of town on my due date." Don't even get me started on that one!
"My labor stalled." Ever think that might have to do with the catheter in your back, the sterile stressful environment of the hospital, the fact that you medically induced your labor before it was ready, or you have been lying prone for the last 5 hours because you can't feel your legs anymore? If your body senses stress in a normal situation, it will shut down, or freak out, or some other non-expected reaction. I don't recall ever having to go pee in the middle of an important softball game. My body knew better. And, heading to a hospital (which is where sick people go) surrounded by beeping machines, getting poked with needles, and having lots of people stick their hand up your who-ha is likely to induce a little bit of stress. Your body might decide this isn't a safe place to bring a fragile new life into the world and shut down. Instead of listening to your body, dimming the lights, taking some deep breaths and letting your body recover.... nurses and Drs. come in telling you all the horrible things that can happen if you don't hurry up and have a baby. Ahhh... how relaxing!
"The babies heart rate dropped/spiked whatever." Ok, I want you to go to the garage, stick your head in the vice, and squeeze ever so gently. Release the pressure, and then about 4 minutes later, do it again. Hold each squeeze for about 30 seconds and repeat for about an hour or so. Check your heart rate.
Have I made my point? I realize that this is quickly becoming a chapter (or two or three) of a book, but I just can't swallow it any more. There is so much more I could get going on (epidural, routine ultra sound, glucose tolerance tests, immunizations, that crap they put in babies eyes when they are born, pitocin, episiotomy, weight gain, enemas). The list is kinda long. But for now, I will let you all chew on this one!
I just got an email from a friend of mine who is expecting her second child. In it, she was complaining about how her Dr. is insisting on a scheduled C-section because her first labor ~ according to the Dr.~ was such a disaster. She "failed to progress" and had to be rushed for that "emergency C-section". It doesn't matter to the Dr. that they medically induced her at 38 weeks because "that baby is huge!" and the poor kid came 2 weeks early fairly traumatically and only 6.5 lbs.
This same friend was also discouraged by her Dr. and her mother from breastfeeding her little guy because he was a bit colicky and a puker. Their constant nagging of how he probably wasn't getting enough milk, he's still hungry, you can't let him just cry....blah blah blah.... made her lose any confidence in herself she might have had and she quit breast feeding all together. (surprise surprise the formula didn't make any difference in his puking and he was still colicky, he just was gassier and smelled worse when he threw up!)
I am soooo frustrated at the medical field, my friends' lack of confidence in themselves, and society as a whole. For thousands of years women have been having babies. Long before insane medical intervention (less than 100 years ago!) society continued to thrive, babies were born (sometimes by the dozen to the same woman!), and life went on. Jesus was born in a stable, not Rush Memorial. I am not Anti-medical advancement. So many great things have come from science and medicine, allowing us to live longer and healthier lives. HOWEVER, a major abdominal surgery, narcotic pain killers, IV fluids, and staples are NOT necessary parts of child birth.
The United States ranks 23rd out of the 26 industrial countries in the world in infant mortality. That means that 22 other countries have a lower percentage of babies die each year. Yet, the United States ranks 1st in the number of C-sections performed yearly (nearly 48% of all deliveries are C-sections in the U.S. while the rest of the world hovers around or below 5%) Does anyone else see the correlation here?
No where else in the world do so many women feel compelled to go to the hospital to "deliver" their baby. In fact, in Europe or Latin America, if you say you were born in a hospital, you will be questioned on what was wrong with you at birth.
So many women I know have been convinced to schedule their surgery because there is "a risk of uterine rupture" if they were to try to have their 2nd, 3rd, 4th baby vaginally. Yet, there is NO MEDICALLY DOCUMENTED case that EVER a woman's uterus rupture during labor from a previous cesarean. Vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) is a realistic and viable option that is rarely given to women who don't ask about it. If I hear "My Dr. said I have to have a C-section" one more time I am going to scream! Find a different friggin Dr! Question what medical fact requires you to have a surgery to bring your baby into the world instead of naturally like your body intended! Ask some questions people!!
After listening to my friends' reasons (i.e. excuses) on why they are scheduling (or worrying they will have) a cesarean, I can only shake my head.
"My baby will be too big." Too big for what? I know women who have had 9, 10, even 12 lb babies vaginally (and naturally for that matter). They all survived. None of them ripped in two or did not recover from labor. They can all still walk, function, raise their children. So I ask, too big for what? Believe me, that thing will stretch! (have you seen the size of my kids' heads?!?)
"I am past my due date." Hello? You have passed some arbitrary date set by your Dr. on when she thinks you might be done cooking that kid? Oh, yeah, your Dr. knows more about your body than you, or your body itself. I promise you will not hold on to a baby until its first day of preschool. At most your looking at a couple extra weeks. (believe me, it sucks!) However, you have got to trust that there has to be a reason for it!
"I might tear." You know they use a scalpal for a C-section, right?
"My Dr. is going to be out of town on my due date." Don't even get me started on that one!
"My labor stalled." Ever think that might have to do with the catheter in your back, the sterile stressful environment of the hospital, the fact that you medically induced your labor before it was ready, or you have been lying prone for the last 5 hours because you can't feel your legs anymore? If your body senses stress in a normal situation, it will shut down, or freak out, or some other non-expected reaction. I don't recall ever having to go pee in the middle of an important softball game. My body knew better. And, heading to a hospital (which is where sick people go) surrounded by beeping machines, getting poked with needles, and having lots of people stick their hand up your who-ha is likely to induce a little bit of stress. Your body might decide this isn't a safe place to bring a fragile new life into the world and shut down. Instead of listening to your body, dimming the lights, taking some deep breaths and letting your body recover.... nurses and Drs. come in telling you all the horrible things that can happen if you don't hurry up and have a baby. Ahhh... how relaxing!
"The babies heart rate dropped/spiked whatever." Ok, I want you to go to the garage, stick your head in the vice, and squeeze ever so gently. Release the pressure, and then about 4 minutes later, do it again. Hold each squeeze for about 30 seconds and repeat for about an hour or so. Check your heart rate.
Have I made my point? I realize that this is quickly becoming a chapter (or two or three) of a book, but I just can't swallow it any more. There is so much more I could get going on (epidural, routine ultra sound, glucose tolerance tests, immunizations, that crap they put in babies eyes when they are born, pitocin, episiotomy, weight gain, enemas). The list is kinda long. But for now, I will let you all chew on this one!
Monday, September 15, 2008
A conversation
Me: Please stop playing with that and eat your cereal.
Mason: Look I can make my armpit fart.
Me: Although that is fantastic, please eat your cereal.
Mason: (singing) I have a farting armpit, I have a farting armpit.
Me: Please stop that right now and eat your cereal or you are going to miss the bus.
Mason: (singing with a mouth full of food) Fart, fart, my armpit can fart.
Me: I am going to take your cereal away and you are going to be very hungry all day if you do not stop making your armpit fart and just finish your cereal.
Mason: Charlotte, can you make your armpit fart?
Charlotte: No, show me.
Levi: Amm Pitt.....My amm pitt too!
Mason: Take your hand like this....
Me: Stop making your armpits fart, eat your breakfast, NOW!
Mason: I have more than ten minutes mom, chill out.
Me: Do NOT tell me to chill out! Eat your breakfast! You still have to put your shoes on, get your back pack, find a coat with a hood, and get your library books BEFORE the bus comes.
Mason: Geez, okay. My cereal is all gone. (walking away to get shoes) I have a farting armpit......
I need a drink and it isn't even 8 AM! And, for all of you who are laughing, I wish it upon you as well.
PS I did take dad's advice on if its gonna be funny later (for the armpit part)....however, having to pack up all the kids to take Mason to school when he misses the bus is NEVER funny.
Mason: Look I can make my armpit fart.
Me: Although that is fantastic, please eat your cereal.
Mason: (singing) I have a farting armpit, I have a farting armpit.
Me: Please stop that right now and eat your cereal or you are going to miss the bus.
Mason: (singing with a mouth full of food) Fart, fart, my armpit can fart.
Me: I am going to take your cereal away and you are going to be very hungry all day if you do not stop making your armpit fart and just finish your cereal.
Mason: Charlotte, can you make your armpit fart?
Charlotte: No, show me.
Levi: Amm Pitt.....My amm pitt too!
Mason: Take your hand like this....
Me: Stop making your armpits fart, eat your breakfast, NOW!
Mason: I have more than ten minutes mom, chill out.
Me: Do NOT tell me to chill out! Eat your breakfast! You still have to put your shoes on, get your back pack, find a coat with a hood, and get your library books BEFORE the bus comes.
Mason: Geez, okay. My cereal is all gone. (walking away to get shoes) I have a farting armpit......
I need a drink and it isn't even 8 AM! And, for all of you who are laughing, I wish it upon you as well.
PS I did take dad's advice on if its gonna be funny later (for the armpit part)....however, having to pack up all the kids to take Mason to school when he misses the bus is NEVER funny.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Finished!
We have almost completely finished the renovations at the new house. There was tons of painting, cleaning, re-carpeting, landscaping, weeding, mowing, fighting and screaming, and a little bit of remodeling and removing, but Hooray we are almost finished.
The inside of the house is complete. On the outside we still have to remove the sections of fence that we took down, continue to weed, reseed and otherwise repair the damaged back yard, and we have to wait until everything dries out a bit so we can fix the big muddy mess from where they dug the new sewer line.
I have taken zillion (okay, a hundred) pictures, so if you are interested in seeing before and after, drop me a line!
Oh, and I am dead serious about not having a renter yet, so if you know someone who is looking, let them know. I will give you all the juicy details to share and I promise to be the best Landlord in town!
The inside of the house is complete. On the outside we still have to remove the sections of fence that we took down, continue to weed, reseed and otherwise repair the damaged back yard, and we have to wait until everything dries out a bit so we can fix the big muddy mess from where they dug the new sewer line.
I have taken zillion (okay, a hundred) pictures, so if you are interested in seeing before and after, drop me a line!
Oh, and I am dead serious about not having a renter yet, so if you know someone who is looking, let them know. I will give you all the juicy details to share and I promise to be the best Landlord in town!
Monday, September 8, 2008
The whole night~
At 4 am I woke up and REALLY had to pee. Why? you ask. Because usually I am up around midnight, and then again around 3 or so with a very hungry little baby and the opportunity to go to the bathroom. However, last night, I put said very hungry baby to bed around 8:30 pm and was not awakened by him in the middle of the night.
Being the crazy mommy I am, I did go check to see if he was OK on my trip to the bathroom (he was sleeping, of course) and then I went back to sleep. I didn't hear a peep from him until after 7am this morning. It was a good thing he woke up when he did, because otherwise, I probably would still be sleeping, Mason would have missed the bus, and my coffee would have turned off and gotten cold.
But, for the first night in more than 6 months, I got more than 3 consecutive hours of sleep. I think I can conquer the world today. Or, maybe more realistically, I will just start cleaning the house.
Being the crazy mommy I am, I did go check to see if he was OK on my trip to the bathroom (he was sleeping, of course) and then I went back to sleep. I didn't hear a peep from him until after 7am this morning. It was a good thing he woke up when he did, because otherwise, I probably would still be sleeping, Mason would have missed the bus, and my coffee would have turned off and gotten cold.
But, for the first night in more than 6 months, I got more than 3 consecutive hours of sleep. I think I can conquer the world today. Or, maybe more realistically, I will just start cleaning the house.
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