Bad Parenting Moment

Matt and I are both feeling like we should get the bad parent award right now. Though we were doing it for a good reason it was so upsetting to hear Abby sobbing her little heart out. What were we doing that made our poor baby cry you ask? Well here's what is going on. Abby came home the other day saying her hands were hurting. Upon examining them we noticed that her hands were so dry that she had cracks running across her knuckles and tops of both her hands. Putting lotion on her hands burned too bad so I had the wonderful idea of applying some Vaseline to them and covering them with socks to help keep the moisture on her hands. What's the big deal with that? Well, Abby still sucks her thumb and was so upset because she couldn't suck her fingers. I let her cry for a while and then finally gave up when the other two started complaining that she was keeping them awake. I decided that in order to keep the peace and have everyone sleep peacefully I would take off one sock and let that hand heal and then start on the other after it was healed. I am not sure this was the right choice because I do want her to stop sucking her fingers but I wasn't doing this to make her stop that bad habit. But I was wanting her to have the time to get her hands better.

Weigh In No. 1

Okay, so it hasn't been an entire week yet but I chose for Fridays to be my official weigh in day and so I did. This morning when I got up I did my weigh in and I had lost 3.9 lbs. Boy was I surprised and happy to see that I had lost that much already. I do realize that I won't continue to lose like this but it is kinda exciting to me.

Now for the journaling of how I'm feeling and what I am eating.

I am feeling pretty good right now. I have been drinking my water and have cut my diet coke intake down to two a day, which is a huge improvement for me. I have added a lot more vegetables and fruits to my menu which is actually pretty good. I have also exercised everyday with the Wii and believe it or not I am actually pretty sore. Starting on Monday I plan on doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred yea, you guessed it, for the next 30 days. I can't decide if I am looking forward to that or not. Does anyone else wants to do this with me? It can be by remote and we can just chat about how we are feeling and if you think it is working. Let me know I would love to have a group to talk with. I had small success today with our MOPS group. Instead of partaking in the brunch, which always has such wonderful food, I brought my own food so that I could keep on track a little better. I didn't even eat everything I brought which is pretty good too. So there is my week in a nutshell. I haven't gone through a weekend yet but feel like I can do well then too. I think we are planning on hitting the bowling alley sometime this weekend for a fun family activity. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Behavioral Goal Number 1

In order to give myself more direction in my weightloss goals I am going to be starting a weekly goal on changing my behaviors. Hopefully, these small goals will be helpful in accomplishing my goal of becoming more healthy.

This weeks goal will be for me to drink more water and less cokes. I will cut my cokes down to two a day and will drink 8- 8 oz. glasses of water everyday. I am not a water drinker but boy do I love my cokes. I am hoping once I get myself use to having cut back on the cokes that I will be able to cut them out all together.

Weightloss Start-up

Okay everyone. I have let my weight get away from me once again. I have given all the excuses I am going to give as to why I am not doing something about it. From today on I am doing something about it. I joined Weight Watchers today. I had joined it last year and was pretty successful until I let things get in the way and then came up with excuses as to why I didn't need to "diet" at that time. As of today I weight 199 lbs. I can't believe that I am posting this for everyone to see but I figure this is where I am and I am doing something about it. I have eaten healthier today than I have in weeks. I also did a workout and feel pretty good about what I did and am doing. My goal is to drop down to 160 lbs. I know this will take a lot of work prayer and planning but I am going to do it. I will give an update on how I am doing once a week when I do my Weight Watchers weigh in on Fridays. This should be interesting but hopefully I will get back some of my energy I have lost and will start being more active. Wish me luck!!

Elizabeth's Trips to the ER

On Tuesday afternoon I got Elizabeth up from her nap. I had opened a package of pistachios which Gabriel and Abby had been enjoying. I sat down with Elizabeth and started shelling and hulling the nuts for her to eat. She then started coughing like she was choking on the nuts. I swept she mouth and she spit out the rest. I gave her some water to drink. She drank but all the while she continued to cough. She coughed for a good 20 minutes when I decided to head next door to get a neighbor's opinion on wether I should take her to the ER. After another 20 minutes of fairly steady coughing I took her to the ER. After 1 hour of waiting a nurse practioner looked her over, said she was fine, and that the nuts just irritated her throat. They sent me home.

The next day I was still feeling a little foolish having gone to the ER but at the same time felt it had to be more than just irritation that caused all the coughing. I met Matt for lunch with the kids. During lunch Elizabeth was not acting herself. She didn't eat, would barely drink and was falling asleep at the table. I took her home and put her down for a nap. An hour later I got her up because she was fussy. I noticed two things at this time she had a fever, 103 degrees, and was taking fast, short breaths, kinda like when you are winded after running. I called the doctor's office and got an appointment a few minutes later. When the doctor listened to her and heard the history of the night before he suspected that a piece of pistachio was in her lungs. He then ordered a STAT X-ray at Columbus Regional Hopsital. We got our x-rays and then received a call from the doctor's office telling us to go home the doctor would call us soon. Unfortunately, we thought it would be safe to feed Elizabeth at this point. We were eating when we received another call telling us that there was an obstruction in her left lung and that we were to take her to Riley Hospital. At that point I packed what I thought I might need and headed north. Once we arrived at Riley and got check in I found out the mistake in giving her anything to eat. We had to wait until at least midnight until they could do the surgery. I the mean time her vitals were dropping. By the time they took her her oxygen saturation was at 88% and her pulse was up in the 17o's range. The term for the procedure they were doing was broncloxopy with foreign body removal. When the doctor came to talk to me after the surgery she said that the piece was located in the lower left lobe of her left lung. She handed me a container holding the piece and said it was as big as the tube in which it was stuck. I was also told that there was fluid built up behind the blockage which they suctioned out but would be concerned of pneumonia developing. They went ahead and admitted her at 3:00 a.m. because she was running a fever and high vitals.

Today we were finally sent home around 3:30. Elizabeth was so ready to go she picked up my purse, headed for the door and said "Go Home, Now." She waited long enough to get our paper work and directions and then we left. Elizabeth fell asleep in the car and slept the entire ride back home.

So there is Elizabeth's story. And btw, this was our first trip to the emergency room for any of our kids. I hope and pray that we don't have to do anything like this again.

Exercise For the Family

We are within walking distance to Gabriel's school. In fact the buses won't even run through our neighborhood because we are so close. That's not a big deal. I have actually enjoyed walking with him to school even though it is sometimes quicker overall to drive. While my mom was here Gabriel finally really took off on riding his bike without training wheels. Now he is wanting to ride his bike everywhere. We let him ride his bike around the block since he won't be crossing over any streets that way and he still gets to go a fairly decent distance by himself. Anyway, last week he wanted to ride his bike to school. I let him but found myself having to run to keep up with him and I am not a runner. I came home and told Matt we really needed to purchase those bikes we had been talking about. So this weekend we bought two bikes and a trailer for the girls. We are considering buying a tandem bike for Abby to use when Matt is riding with us later. This has been a great purchase for us. Everytime we had any down time this weekend the kids or Matt and I said let's go for a ride. Yesterday we took a ride to the local playground and let the kids play before dinner. Today we took two 4 mile trips and boy are our rears hurting. I will be grateful if I can walk tomorrow. Not only did I move my weight around on the bike but I also pulled about 80 more pounds around behind me. It was good exercise and we all have really enjoyed it. I just hope that we continue these rides and that the kids continue to enjoy them.

Wordless Wednesday

Sick Children

I'd like a weekend when it's not rainy and cold and when everyone is feeling good. Last weekend Elizabeth was so congested that she had gunk coming out of her eyes and they were running with tears too. She has also been teething and running a low fever. This weekend both girls have a stomach bug. They are both unhappy and I really can't blame them. Everyone was upset that we were missing another weekend of church. Hopefully next weekend will be better for everyone.

Wordless Wednesday

Sick Kids

Yesterday, Elizabeth had diarrahea.
Last night, Gabriel started throwing up.
This morning, Matt says his stomach hurts.

I gues we will see if it gets any worse than this.

Great Christmas Gift

Matt got me one of the best Christmas gifts this year. He got me the one thing I really wanted. I wanted it for several reasons but we are now both enjoying the benefits of this wonderful gift. What is the gift you ask? It is a gym membership. I wanted it so that we could both get back in shape, so that is would help us both lose some of those unwanted pounds we have both put on over teh past couple of years, get healthly and so that we were a good influence on our children. Matt is actually using the membership more than I thought he would and he is really enjoying the benefits as am I. I hope we continue to do as well as we have.

Home Baked Goods at School

Recently at a MOPS meeting I heard a couple of moms talking about how they were looking forward to their kids starting Kindergarten next year and all the baking they would do for thier child's class. I told them that unfortunately they would not be allowed to bake homemade goods for their child's class. We were pondering all the reasons why when it hit me. Allergies. I began thinking about all the kids with very real, very severe food allergies. The kind of food allgery where just the smallest about sends them to the hospital or causes the need for an epi-pen. It really hit me one day when I allowed the kids to make their own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I had both peanut butter in the jelly and jelly in the peanut butter. The kids have friends who are allergic to nuts. If they made a jelly sandwich with that peanut butter we could have a big problem on our hands. People don't always think along these lines when baking. And many others are misinformed on food allergies thinking a little won't hurt, if you just take it off it's ok, and if it's mixed in that's fine too, etc. With that understanding I can understand the need to have no homemade items at school. At least with store bought items teachers and care givers can check labels and make it safer for everyone.

I know that there were other reasons that schools started taking this stand like childhood obesity which is another subject altogether.

Shots or no shots

Yesterday, we took Elizabeth to the doctor because she has had diarrhea since Wednesday and then developed a fever on Sunday. While there we asked about getting flu shots for the older kids. The doctor was nice enough to get us the shots at that visit instead of making us come back for a scheduled appointment. He also suggested us getting the flu mist instead of the traditional shot. Gabriel went first and he enjoyed the fact that it didn't hurt. Abby on the other hand would not cooperate. She had to sniff and wouldn't do it. So she got the shot instead of the flu mist. Elizabeth will get her flu shot when we have her year old appointment on the 20th. Now the kids won't get the flu, hopefully, but Matt probably will since he tends to get sick more often than anyone else.

Gabriel and Stuttering

For several years now I have had Gabriel's speech tested. First it was for beginning sounds which I was told was normal for boys his age. The second time it was because he had started stuttering. I thought it had gone away but it either returned or I started noticing it again, after I was asked about it from his former preschool teacher. Anyway, I asked for him to be tested again this year. I got call this morning telling me, yes he does have problems with stuttering and it is bad enough to have speech therapy. Right now I am so glad that I didn't give up on having him tested. I am feeling really good and hope that the speech therapy will help.

Abby Update

Abby with through her surgery just fine. Her appointment was a 8:00 and we were home by 10:00 Tuesday morning. She slept fitfully throughout the day and that night. She drank in order to go home from the surgery center but refused to drink or take her medicine once we got home. Anything that went into her mouth was promptly spit out or held in her mouth until she could spit it out. By 1:00 on Wednesday things started getting better. My mother was able to get her to drink some water and then she was interested in trying to eat a little too. I was finally able to get her to take some tylenol and her antibiotic by that night. Today she is still doing better and has even begun to fight with her brother. She wanted to go to school today but I felt she needed a couple more days of rest. She is really looking forward to being back at school next week. Just in time for the Christmas program on Wednesday. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Waiting Is the Hardest Part

Yesterday I got a call from my mother that my dad was on the way to the hospital. He got thrown off his horse and was in a lot of pain. They were running dogs and he wanted everyone else to get the birds out anyway. Eventually he had my mom call 911. Mom drove the trailer to a spot where my brother-in-law could meet her and then traded cars and went to the hospital. A friend meanwhile stayed and rode in the ambulance with my dad. He later said that dad was in so much pain it almost made him sick. Later that afternoon the doctors finally determined that he had torn the ligaments and tendons in his pelvic bone. It looks like he will need surgery to help fix the tear. From what I understand so far they will be putting in a metal plate to hold the two pelvic bones together. He will then be on bed rest for at least 6 weeks and then it will be another 3-6 months before he will begin to get back to normal. This is going to be an extremly trying time for everyone because my dad is so active and isn't kept down easily. Please keep him in your prayers.

Elizabeth Is Sick

Yesterday I got a call from a friend inviting up on a boat ride and fishing trip. It sounded like a lot of fun so we agreed to go. Then later that afternoon I got Elizabeth up from and she had a 102.9 degree fever. We cancelled our boat ride and had a peaceful evening at home with a sick baby. She really acted okay as long as the fever was down. But whenever her fever spiked again she wanted to be held or wanted to sleep. I am hoping this morning she will be okay because Gabriel has a soccer game, Matt is taking the cats to the vet at 7:30 and then from 9:00 - 3:00 will be in class. So I hope I won't be taking a sick child to soccer.

Thankfulness

Okay, so I'm not remembering to post why I am thankful everyday so I am going to shot for once a week. It's not that I have trouble finding things I am tankful for I just don't remember to post about them. Anyway, here goes my list of thankfulness.

1. Kindergarten: Gabriel has had such a wonderful week of Kindergarten. He walks to school with his sisters, myself and a neighbor and his mom. This makes him really happy and I can see in his steps how much it makes him feel big. He loves riding the bus, play time and rug time. It's hard for me to get a lot of information out of him but when I do it is all good.
2. Siblings: Abby and Gabriel have become closer in the past week as well. It's funny how not having Gabriel around all the time makes her miss and appreciate him more. While he is at school she constantly asks when he is going to be home. This will probably only last until the newness wears off but I am enjoying fewer fights at the moment.
3. Health: I am thankful that my family is healthy. With so many surgeries in the last two years I am thankful that everyone is happy and healthy. I hope it stays that way. I am especially thankful that Matt has had no more melanoma and no more spots to be removed.
4. MOPS: I am thankful for my MOPS group, especially the steering team. As we are getting ready for the new year we are coming together once more to support and encourage each other. It is a wonderful group of women and I am so thankful to have found them. The kids have always looked forward to Moppets and all the things they do. We have all benefitted from this wonderful program.

MexiMatt and Post Pune

Two weeks ago Matt went to Pune, India on a business trip. This morning he left the house at 3 am to catch a flight to Mexico for business.

He hated the trip to India and hopes to never go back. Though he said it wasn't nearly as bad as he had been told, it was still bad. The poverty was horrible and eye opening. It helped us to see how much we have and how much suffering there is in the world.

Matt enjoys his trip to Mexico. He has been to this particular plant on several occasions. He loves the fact that he doesn't suffer from allergies while there. He also really enjoys the food.

I hope he has a great flight and returns safely to us, which I'm sure he will. See you Friday, Matt.

Nursing, Can Hurt

On Thursday morning I was nursing Elizabeth for her morning nap when she chomped down. I unlatched her and put her in her crib and walked out. She went to sleep without any fuss. That evening I started to nurse her for bedtime and she chomped down again, this time drawing blood.

Matt said it sounded like it was time to stop nursing. Another friend of mine said it could be a sign that she is ready to ween herself. I have been enjoying nursing this time around. It has been extremly easy and relaxing. Maybe that's because this is my last child and I am enjoying it more because of that or maybe it's because I have other moms in my life this time who are there or have been recently but, it could also be because I've gotten practice with the other two and it's just easier because of that and Elizabeth. I don't know what the reason is but I know I really want to try to make it to one year.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get Elizabeth tostop biting me?