Tuesday, July 29, 2008

I Would Rather Clean Up Spit-up!

Within a half hour of each other, I had both boys down for an afternoon nap! Smiles is now down to two naps a day, so they nap together for an hour or two. Today, Brady went down first and then Smiles followed about a half hour later.

I was just about to go out and get the mail, when I heard a cry and a few coughs - it sounded like Brady. I ran upstairs and gently opened the door of his room - he was laying on his back with his eyes closed - sleeping! So, I figured that it was just something that he was doing in his sleep. I put my ear to Smiles' door and heard nothing, so I figured that it was ok to go back downstairs and get the mail.

As I was getting my shoes on, I heard some coughing and some real crying now - so, I bolted back up the stairs, and open Brady's door. He was sitting up in bed and crying. I picked him up and asked him what was wrong. He kept doing some type of cough - like there was something in the back of his throat, and he was pointing at his mouth.

So, I sat down at the end of his bed with him on my lap, facing me. I was trying to comfort him and I prayed to the Lord, "God, we don't know what is wrong, but you do, so I just pray that you would bring healing into Brady's body."

At that point, Brady started to throw up. All over me and himself. His hands had some of it on him, and I realized that I actually caught a handful of this stuff in my right hand - GROSS! He finished emptying the contents of his stomach onto my shirt, shorts, his shirt and shorts, and there we sat for a moment. I was trying to explain to him what just happened and wanted to hug him, but realized that I really cannot since I had throw up in my hand.

While I was doing that, I was also thinking - how am I going to get us cleaned up???

I needed to get us to the bathroom. But, I didn't want to get the throw up all over the tan carpet...what could I use to wipe us up with? I was looking around and spotted his blankies that he sleeps with - not his favorite blankie, however he really does like the blankets that I grabbed! So, I grabbed the blanket, deposited the contents of my right hand into it, wiped Brady's hand down and then grabbed another blankie to hold the dirty blanket. I then realized that we needed to at least take off our shirts before I transported Brady to the bathroom. So, I deposited those shirts on to the blanket as well.

I quickly carried Brady to the bathroom, gave him lots of hugs, went back to get the soiled clothing and blankets and then gave Brady a bath - some throw up got in his hair when I took his shirt off! He felt better by the end of the bath. After the bath was done and I partially dried him off, he asked if he could go back into the bath...so, I put fresh water into the tub and let him play in it a little bit while I began to clean up the clothing.

After a little bit, I decided that it was time to get him out of the tub and back into bed - to take the rest of his nap. After I put him down, I went into the bathroom to continue the cleaning of the clothing. I suddenly heard crying again - "Oh, no!". I ran into Brady's room - concerned that I was going to have a reenactment of what happened about 30 minutes before - and asked him what was wrong?

Brady answered, "I can't find my yellow blanket" - with tears in his eyes.

I had to explain to him that it was involved in cleaning up the throw up and that Mommy had to wash it (speaking of which - I need to go put it in the dryer). So, after a few minutes, he was fine, and then asked me to hold him and sing "Jesus Loves Me." So, we sang together and I was relieved that a reenactment did not take place!

I just have to say that throw up is so much worse than spit up (and I have had plenty of that to clean up)! As I was cleaning the clothing, the smell of it almost made me throw up! Thankfully, it was only a huge dry heave and my stomach was able to settle down.

So far, Brady still seems fine - I am praying that this was an isolated incident and that neither he nor any of the rest of us throws up again...I would like to say forever, but I know that would be wishful thinking. So, maybe for a very long time! :)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Church With An Infant

If you have had an infant, you may understand what I have been going through...

I really enjoy the church that we go to. I enjoy the worship, the warfare - which was awesome today with the drums - the message, and the Lord has brought some wonderful friends into my life through the church (I have met most of them through Life Group or MIA).

However, now that I have an infant, things have changed a little bit. With Smiles' schedule, I am able to enjoy the worship but I have been missing the message, and I have to admit, I really do not feel like I have the time to listen to the message on a CD at home (although I am wondering if I would ever have time to listen to it if I downloaded it to an IPOD - although I do not have one of them yet!). They do have the message playing in the nursing moms' room, but I really do not get to listen to it - not at the age that Smiles is at - I am focusing more on getting him to nurse and eat too.

I have been really wondering if it is "worth it" to go to church.

Well, for the past two weeks, something within me felt like we needed to make sure that we were in church, and I am thankful that we went.

Last week, we had Smiles prayed over for a potential cyst that is located on his head behind his ear. We are believing for complete healing. The cyst is still there at the moment, but we are believing that the Lord is going to heal it before he may need surgery on it (the pediatrician is suggesting that a pediatric surgeon look at and possibly remove it when he is a year old - so, that means we look forward to the manifestation of healing during these next 5 and 1/2 months!). We do appreciate you partnering with us in prayer for Smiles' healing!

This week, my family from Long Island was here and we are believing for another complete healing (without going into details).

The time that I was in the sanctuary was wonderful - God really met me and ministered to me while I was there. However, I do have to say that the Lord has also been present when I have been in the nursing moms' room. Smiles does not nurse the greatest in there because he is so curious about his surroundings - which started to frustrate me, but I just had to accept that and realize that he had more meals coming to him during the rest of the day. The Lord has also placed other moms in the room that I have enjoyed getting to know and pray for.

Sundays are definitely hard days when you have kids - naps get thrown off, etc - but I have realized (again, since this is the second time around), but this is only for a season. I do miss hearing the messages, but the Lord has still met me where I am.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Paper, Paper, Paper

As I have been trying to get things under control in my house again, I have come to realize how easy it is to have a stack of papers laying around that is STILL waiting for me to go through and either file, put away somewhere, or toss.

I am pretty good at going through the mail and tossing and shredding things, and I also have a spot where I put all of my bills that come in, but there always seems to be some papers that are laying around that I either can't get to at that moment, or I am just not sure what to do with it.

So, I have begun to come up with a few things to help me with this paper clutter:

1. Bills - these are placed in an old day timer - I don't use it as a planner anymore (I have a different calendar for that). When I need to pay my bills, they are organized and all in one place - no problems there.

2. Things to be shredded. We have our shredder in the garage, and so I have a little spot where I place items that need to be shredded if I am not going out to the garage at that particular moment. I just need to be more regular about emptying that spot!

3. File Folders in a box - I forget what this is called (we learned about it at a MIA meeting - maybe my sis will remember...some sort of "kit" I think). I am trying to make better use of this - the folder I currently have include: To File, To Do, Dawson, Me, coupons (Qs) to cut, Qs for photos and Q's for out to eat.

Those are the things that I can think of at the moment.

So, what do I have problems with?

One is magazines. I have such a hard time finding time to read them and then I don't want to toss them b/c I have not read them yet - these are free mags.

Another is - what do I do when the files in my filing cabinet are full - what do I do with those papers? How long do I need to hold on to the stubs of the bills that I have paid? Then if I take it out of the filing cabinet, but need to keep it - where do I put it?

Other things...I may just have to see what all of the other things are?

So, do you have paper clutter? What steps have you taken to get it under control? Do you have any ideas that are tried and true?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Thoughts

There is so much going on around here, I feel like I have very little time to blog. Lately, when I do get a chance, it seems to get interrupted by various things: one of the kids wakes from a nap, it is time to make dinner, I need to clean the house, or I really need to spend the time getting our finances organized.

So, what has been going on - or will be going on?

1. We are being "invaded" by our Long Island relatives - Aunt, Uncle, cousins and their kids. They will be staying with my sis and my parents, but we will be sure to visit lots! I am SOOOOO excited to see them again! My one cousin and his wife had their baby girl 8 days after Smiles was born and I am so excited to finally meet her! It will be fun to watch the babies play together. His brother (who will not be able to come down at this time) had their first baby 18 days after Brady was born - pretty wild!

2. As many of you know, our Dodge Intrepid's engine died in October 2007. We have been a one car family since then. However, we still have the car in our driveway - why, you may ask? Well, we were not sure what to do with it and we hoped to maybe get something for it for when we purchased our next car (and I really did not feel like trying to figure this all out before now). Well, it is time to get it out of the driveway - since the registration is due at the end of September, and there is no way that I am going to pay to get it inspected...obviously it would not pass. I have no idea how it passed last time! So we are going to decide what to do with it in the next couple of weeks. I am kind of looking forward to having the empty space in our driveway.(although, I am looking forward to getting a new-to-us car too!)

3. I am really excited about the prospect of getting a new-to-us car. We are thinking of going for a mini-van. Our reason for that is that we really want the extra room for our stuff when we go on a vacation and we really want to be able to put another person (or two or more) in our car. Our heart's desire is to pay for the car in cash. We do not want to take out any type of loan for it - for two reason's. The main reason is that we do not want to be in debt ever again (Lord willing). When we were married, we had SO much debt from college and our cars, and we paid it all off in about two years. After that, we decided that we do not want to owe any man anything, but love - however, we do have our house that we still owe on. The other reason is that we could not afford a car payment even if we wanted one...and we don't want one anyway! So, this is an exciting adventure as we place our trust in the Lord and begin our search for the car, well, minivan, that He has already chosen for us.

4. I really do not like talking about my weight - but I am excited and want to share with you that I have lost ALL of the weight that I gained with Smile's pregnancy! I am SOOOO excited!!!!!! I don't feel that my body looks the way that it did before I became pregnant, but eventually I will get there - I have recently started to do some crunches before bed, and whenever I think about it during the day. My next goal is to lose the 10 pounds that I never lost from my pregnancy with Brady - I am already on my way with that too! I have lost one of those pounds! YAY!!! We will see what my goal will be after I shed these next 9 pounds! I will keep you posted!

5. I am so happy to be a Mommy! Smiles and Brady bring so much joy into my life - it is hard to remember life before them. They are precious gifts from the Lord.

It is so past my time to go to bed! I need to sign off of this computer and climb in to bed so that I can function tomorrow with the kids! They have been in bed for about 4.5 hours already! EEK!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Smiles!


I have been trying to decide what name I should give our little baby for my blog...because he is not going to be a baby forever!

So, I have decided that his blog name should be exactly what he brings into our lives...

Smiles!

I am so thankful that the Lord placed Smiles into our family. He is such a happy baby and fun to be around. He smiles a lot and he spreads the joy that is welling up in him, on to others. There have been some hard times too, but the Lord has helped me through them - sometimes with just a smile from my little guy. I love being his and Brady's Mommy.

Smiles is now 6 months old and is 28 inches, 17 lbs. 5 oz., and he loves life and (most) people. If he is "not sure" about you, he will keep his eyes on you, no matter what else is going on around him (just ask Poppy! Although, he is fine with Poppy now.).

Today, he hit another milestone...he FINALLY rolled over from his belly to his back!!! PTL!!! He has been rolling from his back to his belly for quite some time, but was not going the other way. Grammie and Poppy witnessed it before I did - but that was okay with me! I am so ecstatic that he is doing it now - now I won't have to "save him"!

Smiles LOVES his big brother, Brady (the feeling is mutual) and he enjoys playing with him - you can see them playing tug-of-war with one of Brady's blankets.

I am so thankful that the Lord placed these two little men of God into my lives. They are a blessing to me.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Why Are My Cookies Flat?

I have not had the best luck baking cookies in my electric oven in our house - they always turn out flat!

I don't really understand why this happens.

I make them from scratch and follow the recipe - the only thing that I do a little different is to cook them at 325 instead of 350...could that be a reason why they are flat or is there something else that I can do to prevent this?

I like my chocolate chip cookies to not be so flat and thin - I don't know how else to really describe it!

Any suggestions or ideas on how to make these cookies better?

On another note, Brady and I had a lot of fun mixing the cookies up - it is a little "nerve-wracking" at times when I am mixing something up with my 2 and 1/2 year old - I just have to be sure to keep an eye on him so that there is not flour everywhere. Overall, he is really good with mixing (or dumping and watching the stand mixer take over!), and we both have a lot of fun doing it together.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

A New Stylist

Dawson and I need to find a new hair stylist. One of our friends was cutting our hair, but she is taking a break from cutting hair. So we are trying to find someone else that will do a great job on our hair, with a low price, that is not too far away from where we live (you have to factor in gas prices too - or plan another errand that way, which is not always easy with a nursing infant). That is not always an easy thing to find.

So, Dawson is currently at a new to us hair place, getting his "hairs trimmed", as he likes to say. His hair is not always the easiest to cut correctly - and he will not even let me try to cut it using my mom's clippers and hair scissors. So, I am praying that it turns out well, and that he is pleased with it.

It will soon be my turn to try and find a place to get my hair cut too. I sort of know the style that I would like to have, but I am always tentative in going to a new place. I know that it is only hair and that it will grow back, but I would like to look beautiful with my new "do" and not funny.

I remember when I went to a new place once and I told her that I did not want a "bob", but I wanted it cut similar to the way that the stylist's hair was cut. So, guess how my hair looked when I left the place...a "bob"! Maybe I should have asked her who cut her hair, and went to that stylist!

So, my search will have to continue...in the meantime, I am glad that long hair looks okay on me!

Update: Dawson just got back, and the results are in! I think that he looks pretty handsome! (although I always think that!). There is one spot on his head where people have a hard time getting the cut right, and the guy that did it, did an ok job...it will do for now! :)

Sunday, July 6, 2008

The Third Thump...

As I was saying here, there were three times that Brady fell last week, and I am so thankful that the Lord's angles are watching over my children (and me too!).

The third incident happened at my sister's house before Brady took a nap. Thursday was a little bit of a "crazy" day at my sister's house. We had a visit from a friend that we both used to teach with, a visit from Thrills, and a visit from our mom (she was the only visitor that was present for the incident). It was really nice to see all of those people and I got to visit with them a little bit, however, I also needed to be sure that I was keeping things on schedule - the baby's nap (and having to turn him over a few times after he rolled on to his belly - I keep reminding myself that he will soon learn to roll all over the place, and then I will not have to "save" him from too much belly time!), making lunch for everyone, getting the frozen chicken into the crockpot for dinner, and getting Brady down for a nap! I felt like there were too many things that needed to be done all at the same time...but, they needed to be done!

So, the baby was sleeping, but was scheduled to be up soon to take his nap, and I HAD to get the chicken into the crockpot to cook, so, I was giving Brady a little more play time. He and Jeter went upstairs to get a toy, and then I heard:

Thump, thump, "Brady's falling", Thump, "down the stairs", Thump - and some crying.

I threw the Clorox wipe that I was using into the sink and ran while yelling, "Oh, my God!" When my mom and I reached the stairs, Brady stopped rolling down the stairs and did not hit the bottom of the flight of stairs, which would have been onto a tile floor. I believe that angels were protecting him.

I quickly scooped him up into my arms and calmed him down and then asked him if anything hurt. He said that his head hurt - I am sure that he banged it while rolling down half of the flight of stairs. So, I had my mom hold him in her lap while I washed my hands (just in case there was any of the Clorox wipe mixture still on my hands - I did not care initially, but now was a good time to quickly wash!). We got out an ice pack for him, which he used for maybe one minute - it was worth a try! He likes to look at and touch the ice pack, but he does not like it on him.

My sister asked if I wanted to give him some Tylenol, I said sure and while she was pouring it, Brady said, "Mommy, (may I) have some Tylenol to make me feel better?" (he really likes the flavor of Tylenol). I said sure, he drank it down, asked for more (but was declined, as usual) and about a minute later he said, "I feel better. I want (to) play."

I first took him back into my arms, and checked him out a little bit - no blood, no cuts, I did not feel any lumps anywhere either. Praise the Lord!

I have to say that although I was initially alarmed, I did sense peace from the Lord right away. Thank you Lord for watching over my son, especially when I am not able to!

What's Your Favorite Soup To Make?

I just finished making colcannon - I got the recipe here (I will also post it below). It uses kale, carrots, onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and then it is topped with mashed potatoes. I never heard of the veggie kale until I started to get veggies from the farm, and the only way that I like it (so far), is when it is made in the dish colcannon. The flavors of the veggies and potatoes are delicious!

So, after I boiled the potatoes (to make the topping), I drained them and saved the water to use as broth in a future soup. Now I need to decide what soup I am going to make...

What would you make?

Recipe for Colcannon
1 Bunch of Kale or Lacinato Kale, cut into thin slices and then cross cut fine
2 Onions, chopped
5 cloves of garlic
2 C grated carrot
1/3 C olive oil
¼ t pepper
1 t salt
6 C potatoes, diced with skins on; more nutrition, richer flavor, less work
¼ C minced fresh parsley

Saute the onions, garlic, and carrots until soft. Add the kale all at once and stir often over high heat until well wilted. Add ¼ C water, salt & pepper. The steam will rise, cover the pan and allow steaming at low temp for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place this on the bottom of a 9x13-buttered pan.

Parsley-Mashed Potatoes: Dice 5-6 cups of potatoes. Barely cover with water, add 1 t salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are very soft, about 15 mins. Pour off water (save for soup stock). Add about 2 C milk, 4 T butter, and parsley. Mash by hand or with mixer. Add salt (I used about 1 tsp), pepper (about 1/4 tsp) and 1/8 t nutmeg to taste.

Spread parsley mashed potatoes over the kale mix. Top with 2 C of your favorite cheese, cheddar is great. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Thump, Thump, Thump

This past week, Brady has experienced a few falls, and I have heard more "thumps" than I would really like to. There were a total of three experiences that he has last week.

The first incident took place in the middle of the night and it happened like this:

I heard a "thump" and then some crying. My initial response was to the crying, and I said to Dawson (who sprung up out of bed),

"Just turn him over."

Then, I really "came to" and realized that the crying was coming from Brady's room, not the baby's room. The baby will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and cry because he has rolled from his back or side on to his belly and he has not learned to roll over the other way yet. So, sometimes, I just have to go in and turn him over and he will fall back asleep.

However, Dawson found Brady at the foot of his bed. Somehow, he made his way down there in about 2 hours - I checked on him before we went to bed and actually moved him back on to his pillow, because he had done a "180". He was ok and quickly went back to sleep. That was the second time that he fell out of the bed since we moved him to the big boy bed (we do have a guard rail up, or he probably would have fallen out a lot more!).

The second and third incident happened on the same day - Thursday.

The second incident happened at our house. He was walking down the stairs and somehow tripped when he was on the second to last step and fell down - he was ok though. I popped out of the upstairs bathroom to see him laying on the stairs. I asked him if he was ok, and he said, "I ok, Mommy."

I have to say, "Praise the Lord for His angels of protection all around my family!"

The third incident happened later that day at my sister's house. I will post more on this tomorrow, or when I get a chance to sit at the computer again! To be continued...

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Wondering Where I've Been?

There are so many posts that have been spinning around in my head, but I have not really had much time by the computer these days. You see, my sister had a little fall at my house and sprained her ankle, which you can read about here - so, I have been helping her out this week at her house.

I have really missed hanging out with my sister for the past few months - and I think that she has been missing me too. I have been going over to her house every day so that she can rest her ankle while I make sure that everyone is fed, hydrated, and help with whatever I am able to when I am not tending to my boys' naps or play time with the baby.

I have to say that I do understand why Carol Brady had Alice as her house keeper (on the show the Brady Bunch - did I just show my age there?) - I could not imagine having six children! (Right now, I cannot imagine having three!) :) Taking care of four children (one being 6 months old) has kept me very busy! It has not been all work - I have been having some fun too!

It has been fun to see my sister everyday and I really have not minded making the meals. She really needs to take it easy so that her ankle will heal quickly! I have sort of felt like a second mom to my nephews - but, that is actually not a new feeling. We are a very close family and when they were over our house on Sunday (they slept over night while my sis and Simms went to the ER), Jeter and Barber said that they felt like I was their mom, Dawson was their dad and that their cousins were like their brothers. I think that is cool - it made me feel special! I know that my boys will feel the same way about TCC and Simms.

So, what will I be up to the rest of this week?

Well, I will continue to go and help my sister out - Brady LOVES playing with his cousins everyday! I think that he is going to have withdrawal when we do not go over there as frequently!

I think that I will also visit my local Kmart again. They have an awesome deal on General Mills cereals - even if you do not have coupons! However, if you do have coupons, it makes the deal even sweeter! When you buy 4 boxes of GM cereal (the types that are included in the deal are posted, and it is just about all of them - at least the ones that I wanted to buy!), the prices will ring up as $2.49/box, but then $4.00 will instantly be taken off at the register, making it $1.49/box. I did two transactions the other day (they have to be separate) and in one of them, I had all $1 off one box - so, I spent $1.96 for 4 boxes of cereal! I have more coupons that I am getting together so that I can load up on cereal! I am going to work something out so that my sister can also cash in on the deal, even though she cannot go there herself - maybe I will take my mom with me tomorrow night!

Well, it is off to bed for me soon! I will be taking care of four boys plus one more (my sis)!