Monthly Archives: February 2011

Here’s Guessing

Posted on February 16, 2011 | 4 comments

My sweet baby Patrice seems to be struggling a little bit the last couple days.  She is a bit fussier than normal, which is to say, she is actually fussy.  She is typically a very happy, content baby.  Yesterday daycare reported she was hard to console all morning.  Tonight she is also grumpy.  Turns out daycare had another tough day with my sweet-ums.  My guess is teeth.  I don’t see any but she is nursing different.  She is clamping down more and kind of grinding her mouth.  Just seems she is looking for something to be more comfortable.  It is not a lot of fun for her or mama.  I feel so bad for her.  She is normally so happy.  It makes me wonder how much discomfort she is really in.  I am guessing a fair amount. 

If she is going to do this like her sisters, we will be seemingly on a non-stop teeth spree soon.  My girls wait a little while to get them but once they start, they come one right after another.  Ahhhhh….I must admit, I am dreading it a little bit.  I am dreading the fussiness, the diaper rashes and the interrupted sleep. 

I also dread teaching her not to bite me while nursing.  But while it is something I will have to teach her, it is not impossible.  She will learn.  And likely learn pretty quickly.  My older two did.  My brilliant midwife taught me the trick before even the first attempt.  Don’t pull baby away, even though that is reflex, it just adds pain.  Rather, push baby toward me so her little nose gets tapped.  It makes her open her mouth in a little gasp and stops any clamping down of that little jaw.

It works like a charm.  And it works for me this Wednesday.

4 Comments

Posted in blog hops, Patrice, works for me wednesday

Multitude Mondays–Our Healthy Girl #50

Posted on February 14, 2011 | 1 comment

Being the mama of 3 is much easier than being the mama of one or even two.  No, I don’t have more time to myself or more money than I had with one or two kids, I have something much more valuable.  I have more experience.  I have history.

When you have your first baby, everything is new. Both the good and the bad have never happened before.  You only have the experience of others to go by.  The information your doctor gives you.  The opinions of friends and those darn growth charts.

Based on the above it is easy to be thrilled when your child is hitting the average sizes and growth rates and quite devastating when they slow down or otherswise land outside of the norms.  Be it good or bad, that is the information you have.

As you may know, I have the experience of two little girls who did their own thing developmentally and growth-wise.

I remember falling completely apart after the doctor we were seeing told me Caitlyn was showing signs of failure to thrive, due to low wieght gain, and should be weaned and given whole milk with Chocolate or Strawberry Syrup in it, at 9 months old.  Yes, you read that right.  I cried and cried and agonized.  We were expecting Sue at the time so I had a midwife appointment.  I took Caitlyn in, held her up to my midwife and said, “they say I have to wean her and to give her whole milk with chocolate or strawberry syrup in it and I have to have her assessed for developmental delays.”  My midwife looked at her, said, “she looks fine to me.  Here’s the name of my family doctor, call her, tell her I sent you.”  Between my midwife’s referral and my tears on the phone, we got in the next day. 

Fast forward more than 3 years, Caitlyn is fine, no delays of any kind.

Now on to the next child.  Thankfully we were now at a wonderful doctor who watched Sue close, but did not freak out when the child decided growing was optional and she wanted to option out.  Sue is perfect, just petite.  Our doctor gets that.  She follows Sue’s growth, only using the charts as reference to follow Sue’s progress against her own growth, not the average of all the kids out there.  She knows my first two kids slowed down in their growth significantly around 6 months.  She even noticed that adding solids to Sue’s diet did not help her growth, rather, her weight slowed down even more.  So we backed off solids to make sure Sue was nursing a ton.  And we continue to have an amazing, petite little girl.

So then Patrice comes along.  And the kid ate and gained weight from the beginning.  The doctor and I were AMAZED.  We truly marveled at this new member in our family.  Two appointments ago she was at 50th percentile for weight and 70th percentile for hieght.  Who was this kid?  Then at our 4 month appointment, she slid to 25th percentil for weight.  And this last week, she proved she belongs in this family when she hit 10th percentile for weight.  Yup, she’s ours.  She is gaining, or not, right on our schedule.  We are now watching her weight gain and some other developmental markers.  Like a hawk.  Oh yeah, we’re gonna be back in…two months!

You can totally tell our doctor knows us, when she panics so much she wants to wait two months to see how the weight is going.

I am so thankful for the history of my other girls; it allows me a freedom from worrying I did not have before.  I am thankful for a doctor who listens and pays attention to her patients rather than charts and graphs.  Above all, I am thankful for my girls.

What are you thankful for? Please join myself and others as we count our 1000 gifts.

1 Comment

Posted in Caitlyn, kidlets, multitude mondays, Patrice, Sue

The Mother of All Bubble Wrap–Saturday Snapshots

Posted on February 12, 2011 | 3 comments

Find Fabulous Photo Fun…

3 Comments

Posted in blog hops, photos, Saturday Snapshots

Sweeter than Candy at Doc Sweets’

Posted on February 11, 2011 | 2 comments

The girls and I recently went on a little adventure and I thought Valentine’s Day was a great time to share about it.

We went to Doc Sweets’ Candy Company in Clawson.  I must admit this was our second trip.  I found it to be such a cute place, I asked if I could come back with my camera and talk about it on my blog.  They were ‘sweet’ enough to say yes.*

I thought getting a Valentine’s Day present for daddy was a great reason to go.  So we headed there to browse through the yummy treats of now and yesteryear.

We found a huge aray of colored M & Ms and all flavors of Jelly Belly jelly beans.  But the first thing to catch our eye were the kid shopping carts.

We found yummies in the packaged candy.

And in the rows and rows of bulk candy.
Who wouldn’t have fun when you get to use a pretty scoop?

Sue loves violet.

Caitlyn picked pink.

Patrice wanted it all but she doesn’t have teeth.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs pez dispensers are on Sue’s wish list.

*the lady I spoke to actually said camera’s are always welcome.

2 Comments

Posted in Michigan Adventures, special occassions

Asking Why

Posted on February 11, 2011 | 4 comments

I went to a small Christian Liberal Arts college.  At the time I attended, there were about 750 students on campus.  As you might imagine, you get to know just about everybody on campus, especially when you work in the dining commons like I did.  And even if you weren’t close to someone on campus, it was more than likely one of your friends was.

It’s been almost 14 years since I graduated.  Thanks to social networking, many of us have reconnected.  And this last week it came into play in a huge way.

News went out Saturday afternoon of a tragedy befalling a couple from our college community.  The family had been travelling in poor weather and had to pull over on the expressway.  The vehicle they were in was hit by a semi truck.

The wife was 37 weeks pregnant.  She died from her injuries.  The baby, a girl, was delivered about 45 minutes later and in critical condition.

A group to pray for the dad and daughter was started on facebook.  Soon thousands of people were praying for this little girl.  The size of the group quickly grew beyond those who knew the family, to many more who did not.

While we asked for Miranda to be healed and able to stay here with her daddy, the Lord had other plans.  Little Miranda went home to Jesus at 3 days old.  She and her mommy are together.  And her daddy is left to grieve his double loss.

And all of us are left to ask why.  Why God didn’t save Sara or heal Miranda.  Why a family that wanted this baby so much was robbed of so many dreams. 

My asking doesn’t give me any answers, so I am going to ask something else.  Please pray for the husband and father as he buries his wife and daughter tomorrow.  Please pray for grace and mercy.  Please pray he somehow makes it through this.  Please pray his faith holds.  Please pray God might grant that he see how the life of his family was used for God’s glory.  Please pray for this and so much more. 

You can read more of their journey here.  Please pray.  Please, please pray.

4 Comments

Posted in praying, questions

Nummy’s for Try Something New Thursday

Posted on February 10, 2011 | 2 comments

This week’s try something new is, well, not new to me. This is the third go around for us, but it is truly something new for Patrice.

Yup, this week’s Try Something New is Patrice’s first cereal.  Her first foray into solid food.

What did you Try New this Week?  Share about it and link up below.

2 Comments

Posted in blog hops, Patrice, Try Something New

Shopped Mercy–Loved What I Got!

Posted on February 9, 2011 | 1 comment

I made my first purchase from the Mercy Shop and I LOVE what I found.  So does Patrice.  And our family doctor.  And I think you might too!

It says mmm.breastfed.mom

And that works for me! 

Wordlessly…or close to it.

1 Comment

Posted in blog hops, breastfeeding, wordless wednesdays, works for me wednesday

Being Neighborly–Multitude Mondays #49

Posted on February 7, 2011 | 1 comment

We are blessed with neighbors.  Really good ones.  This weekend my kids had a blast with playing with the children of three of our neighbors.  We celebrated a 2nd Birthday with one neighbor family

Then they got to play outside with another girl in the neighborhood.  Daddy noticed how patient this older girl was with Sue.  She waited for her to come with Caitlyn and her to play, shielded her from the snow and made sure our little girl felt special.  Caitlyn and Sue love the times they get to play with her and oh how they wail when the fun is over.

It was a good weekend of fun and friends, and for this I am thankful.

What are you thankful for? Come along and see what is echoing in the hearts of others.

1 Comment

Posted in blog hops, kidlets, multitude mondays

Am I the Only Mama

Posted on February 7, 2011 | 3 comments

So we have things in our house that we don’t say.  The list includes such things as:

Stupid
Shut up
I don’t like
damn
hell
hate

Caitlyn does a great job not saying them.  The hardest one for her is “I don’t like.”  She often has to stop herself to say “I don’t a-fer (prefer).”

Sue glories in driving Caitlyn crazy by saying stupid.  One day I found her all alone in the kitchen, staring out the window onto the driveway.  There was no one around, but she was saying “stupid, stupid, stupid” over and over until Caitlyn came in to yell, “mommy Sue is saying stupid.”  Then Sue quit.  I didn’t even have to correct it.  Sue was satisfied once Caitlyn was irritated.  Ahhh the joy of sisterhood.

We did have an issue with Sue saying hate.  We tried ignoring it, then gently correcting it. Ultimately, I had to pull out the big guns, “if you say that again mama is going to put soap on your tongue.”  Again came around, so mama had to make good on her threat.  I grabbed the liquid soap, got a little on my finger, and went for the tongue.  She was a squirming mass of flesh and I would be very surprised if I even got any on her tongue, but it worked.  We stopped hearing it.  Even Sue noticed.  A couple days after the soap, she commented, “I’m not saying Hate anymore mommy!” 

She was very proud and so was I!

They both find joy in yelling “BUSTED” when they hear someone say stupid.  This is sometimes embarassing.  Like the time we went to daddy’s work and his boss said the aforementioned word.  Caitlyn whispered to me, “mommy, he said STUPID.”   Sue had no such restraint.  She stopped the world to say, “BUSTED!”

Guess who gets busted the most?  Yup, that would be mommy.  I am forever getting in trouble for stupid.  Ugggghhhhh.  And sometimes for shut up.  It is funny and frustrating to hear “busted” again and again, but not as bad as the “busting” I got through the innocence of Caitlyn a few weeks ago.  We had not told the girls not to say damn or hell.  They are not words heard often in our home, or so I thought.

The other day I was getting something out of the fridge.  Caitlyn was standing at the fridge door with me.  Something fell out and I said, “Oh!!!!” And stopped myself.  Caitlyn, my ever helpful daughter, said “dammit!”   Daddy met my eyes.  We both knew who was the guilty party.

It really hit home.  Several applicable scripture verses came to mind including, Proverbs 25:11 The right word spoken at the right time is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl, New Century Version.  That was definitely not the right word to hear.  And definitely not the right word for my daughters to be hearing.

And “You snakes! You are evil people, so how can you say anything good?  The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart.” Matthew 12:34 NCV.  Oh the truth in there hurts so bad.  I knew she had heard it from me and I knew that for all the times she heard it, I had muttered it in my heart several more times.

It is time to root them out.  I don’t want that in my heart in the first place.  I do not desire my children, or anyone, to see or hear my evil-ness.  So I have to replace those words and thoughts with something else.  I am spending more time reading the Bible and listening to Christian music.  I have to put good in if I want good to come out.  I am not perfect. Nor do I think I will be any time soon, but I can continue to be a work in progress.  As the Sunday School song says, “I am a Promise, I am a Possibility, I am a great big bundle of Pontentiality! And I’m a learning to hear God’s Voice and I’m a Tryin’ to make the right choice, I’m a promise to be anything God wants me to be!”

3 Comments

Posted in Caitlyn, habits, kidlets, Sue

Browsing Blog World and Found…14 Days of L.O.V.E Challenge day 5

Posted on February 6, 2011 | 3 comments

I find the blogging world wonderfully creative.  Today I hopped over to a friend’s, who was nice enough to comment on mine, blog and found this fun L.O.V.E challenge.  Today’s challenge is to share a song, be it love song or just one that you love and share it.  Summer shared a Beatles Song, Kimberly shared a worship song and I will add a country song.

I heard it for the first time when Caitlyn was just weeks old.  It made me cry.  Not polite, dainty, that touched me tears, rather, cry and cry ’til the sobs shake you.  I was already struggling with my emotions.  It seemed my little girl was growing up so fast (and I wasn’t even back to work from maternity leave).  And then to hear this

I lost it. 

I have danced to it while holding each of my girls.  I have pictured their daddy dancing to it with them.  And I cry.  Tears of joy for the three girls the Lord has given us, tears of sorrow they are growing up so fast and will some day leave us and tears of longing for them to know how loved they are and for them to some day find a man, as wonderful as their daddy, to love them forever and that they will above all come to know the LOVE of their Heavenly Father, from whom all love comes.

3 Comments

Posted in blog hops, Caitlyn, kidlets, memories, Patrice, Sue