Seven

This little girl turned seven last week!  I just can't believe it.  Sure love this girl.

 I was woefully unprepared for her birthday, considering that her emergency surgery threw us off.  The day before the blessed event, I told her she could have her friends over the next week, at which news she promptly burst into tears.  So I called all of her friends and invited them over for a party the very next day, on her actual birthday.  They were such good sports.  I had to get gifts and things for the party at the last minute; in my desperation I visited a Ross-like local store and found kits for a couple of different crafts and the cute cupcake holders pictured above.  We made sock puppets, painted rocks, and decorated cupcakes.  It went well in spite of its last minute nature (and being 30 minutes late to her own party, due to a miscommunication with Grandpa, oops), and I think she was happy (she loves crafts).

Feeling extra thankful for this sweet girl who adds a kind and loving and spunky/fun spirit to our home!  It is indeed very boring around here without her.

How I Teach My Kids Their Colors

I don't know how other people do it, but with my five kids I have found this method to work when teaching young ones their colors.  I like to point out different objects of the same color (this works great on a walk-- I like the color red to start with, because there are things like fire hydrants and stop signs), or similar objects of different colors.  I have used these blocks to teach each one of my kids, because it fits the similar object theory, and we can organize the blocks according to color.  With my others, I started shortly after their first birthday and expect that the colors and concept won't click completely for six months or so.  I know this feels like a young time to start, but in some ways it reduces pressure because you know there is plenty of time, and they really are sponges at this age.

I don't know how many times I had to make a concerted effort to sit down and work with them on colors, but I'm sure it took less than ten.  Once they get it, it is pretty easy for them.

I waited longer than usual with my last little boy.  Today we finally got to spend a little more quality time together than we have over the last couple of weeks as we had no doctors to visit or places to be  (by the way, our little girl is doing well!  she got a "clean" X-ray yesterday and her blood markers are showing back to normal!  Wahoo!).  I'm not sure the color part sunk in, but he loved the tower building and matching up the colored cars to the different colored towers.  I forgot how therapeutic it can be to play cars with little ones.  So fun.

How do you teach your kids their colors?

Little Boy Playing

Off to the zoo today with the littles.  Enjoy this video.  I caught this little one playing and loved watching the world through his eyes for a few minutes.  Sure going to miss watching those new little eyes and discovery some day.  If you don't have time for the whole thing, skip to 1:45 (to 2:05) and watch how he spontaneously shimmies to the music.  :)

A Little Laugh

...to start your weekend.  (sorry I'm posting late today!  had to take little cute girl in again, this time for tummy pain, did another X-ray-- just some fun little blockages due to all the medicines and fun things she's gone through lately, nothing a little over the counter medicine won't cure!)

Here are some funny things the littlest boy has done or said lately.

The other day, after someone went to the bathroom, he surprised us by saying "bye bye poo poos!  Lub [love] you!"  and then blowing the toilet a kiss, by touching his chubby little open hand to his mouth and making a loud smacking noise.  So sorry if this is offensive to anyone, it's just so funny.

He has a little tiny Cars car he calls "Wa-weegie" (Luigi) that he will not reliquish for anything.  And if he does, and it gets misplaced, he will be sad and fussy until it is relocated (sometimes not for several hours).

The other night, we had some deer in our yard.  He noticed them even before I did, and he was so ecstatic I couldn't contain his excitement.  As you will see in the video below.  Sorry it is dark.  But you get the picture.  I was totally amazed the deer weren't scared away as he rushed back and forth to the window squealing "deer!  Deer!"



Happy weekend everyone!  

Happy Love Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  I used to feel grumpy on this day, but my kids just make it so fun.  That whole magic of childhood thing, or something like that.  Enjoy a few photos from my four year-olds Valentine class ballet and a special Valentine holder made by my girls that I thought was just so stinkin' cute (they did it with no help from me).  And my husband is taking me out for pizza tonight.  Little did he know that when he married me, he married pizza.  What a good sport.





Note that Mr. Snowman is holding a Valentine.  I found a similar one on my nightstand this morning, as did everyone else in the family.  One little girl in this family is so cute that way-- she loves the holidays and loves to write sweet notes.  She teaches me a thing or two all the time. :)

I hope you have a wonderful day!  Love from all of us.

A Little Side Goal

Just a quick little something about a side goal that started a couple of months ago.  Remember when I worked on organization?  Well,  that is still an ongoing project.  :)  But one upside was that I planned out activities for the whole year, like dates with the kids and with my husband.  This may seem like overkill, but I have gotten addicted to yearly planning over the last few years.  I find I'm so much better at finding a block of time to plan something out, after which I can let it run itself for quite a while.  I wanted to make sure I do all those things I always intend to do but never get around to, to be more purposeful about life instead of just going along for the ride.

One of my goals with the planning was to allow for more cultural experiences with the kids, again, in a purposeful way.  I did some quick research on the internet to see which art shows, plays, ballets, etc were visiting my state over the next year.  Then I did some quick budgetary calculations.  Turns out, even though I'd like to go to lots of plays, one good quality play is all the budget will allow when there are so many people to account for (and I've learned that I'd rather pay for good seats to one play than bad seats for two).  That said, in December, when I saw a deal for Symphony tickets for just $9, I snatched that right up, because cultural events were on my mind and I realized it was a great opportunity to get in some culture for a great price (and we didn't need great seats, as it was an auditory experience).

In addition to stage performances, I scheduled cheaper things, like one nice restaurant (of course nice is anything a step up from McDonalds)(we were supposed to do this in Jan, but when I was sitting at the dinner table a few nights before, and there was a lot of slurping and chomping and just general craziness, I decided we needed some more prep time, since the kids didn't know about it anyway, and prepping for something like that is kind of the point).  I also found that a semi-local university's art museum offers a few free Saturdays just for kids, and they even provide a craft.

I also scheduled out days here and there at our "pass of the year."  In general, we tend to do one pass a year and rotate that pass.  Last year we did the Planetarium.  If I didn't schedule it, I would sometimes forget for months at a time that I even had the pass (after I started writing it on the calendar, we went more regularly).  This year we are doing the zoo.  I budgeted enough to visit another museum or two on a one-off basis, like the science museum we visited last month.

In general I just tried to decide how often time and budget would allow us to visit places we wanted to go, then scheduled them in so we don't just get so into our daily rhythms that we miss out on something we really wanted to do.   So far, its been good!  I have one goal related to this I'm going to work on next month.

Whew!  Clear as mud.  Happy Valentines Day!

The Tooth-Brushing Fire Truck

More videos!  I aim to please, so here goes.  :)

Took this on the same day I took the last one.  Actually my oldest son took it for me.  I wanted to capture the way we make it through tooth brushing time with the little one.  I had to get creative, since he hated this time.  This has been a fun way to make it fun-- he suggests the vehicle sound and I brush.

Enjoy!

Little Things

I'm afraid you are over-saturated with our little health crisis over here.  Sorry, it should get better soon. :)

I took these photos the day after she came home.  It was such a relief that she is okay that the simple act of seeing her coloring touched me and I pulled out the camera.  These little things are so easy to miss on a normal day, but on this day I was taking photos at every angle (lol), and just generally enjoying watching the care she put into the various stages of her picture coloring, right down to crayon selection.  Thanks for indulging my reel of similar looking photographs, this momma was just so happy and relieved to have this little girl home again, even if her hair hadn't been washed for a really long time. :)

Parting Hospital Images

Here are some parting images from the hospital.

When I arrived on her last day in the hospital, she was practicing walking with a physical therapist in the stairwell.  She was in really good spirits.  She showed me the "White House" where the "president lives." Hm.  She loved the view.  I let her use my good camera (I probably wouldn't let her use it on a good day, and here she was on her little excited wobbly legs and I let her snap away.  Think a near-death experience (exaggeration) turned me back into a softie?)

She caught me off guard with this one.  Its funny because they had a photo in the elevator that I got to see a zillion times, an ad for a stress class-- it was a photo of a woman, presumably a parent, closing her eyes and supposedly taking a deep breath.  She looked how I felt, I thought.  But then I noticed her neck veins.  They were super bulgy.  I couldn't stop fixating on the bulgy neck veins, weird as it sounds, the millions of times I kept seeing that photo.  And here I am, unconsciously chin holding and forehead wrinkling.  Maybe if there was a side view my neck veins would be bulging.

Why don't I mind that she is taking pictures of stuff like this?  I found a million pictures of gummy bears arranged in various creative arrangements on my phone the day after she was admitted, and I'm pretty sure she is the culprit. Normally I get a bit annoyed by the commandeering of my phone, but I found myself hoping she'd be back soon taking photos of gummy bears and my dark closet (pure black photos, not kidding).  I'm just so happy she is "back."  So happy for evidence of it.

 Painted her nails on day #3.  The "activity cart" people were emotional life savers.

This book made her laugh for the first time in a few days.  We read Curious George Goes to the Hospital and she kept laughing and saying "that's just like me!"  But she laughed hardest when George got a shot.

Stopped to get her a little treat on the way home, only she had conked out.  Happy as she had been, I remembered that she is still a bit fragile and recovering.  Her little hands (!).  They've been poked a lot this week, and she was such a trooper about it.

That little face.  I had lots of time to stare at her sleeping on that first night, in the dark, while I held her little trembling knee.  I got to see again just how beautiful she is.  And how much she means to me.  I hoped and prayed for this moment so hard.  For her to come home in her little purple coat, okay.  What a gift these little people are.

Home

That's the my little girl, finally!  Its so good to see her little personality back, even if it means she was "copying" the doctor and giggling.   (one reason our house has been so "boring"-- as the other kids said-- over the last four days)

The CRP test marker they were looking at finally came down (whew!) and she can walk in a limpy/wobbly way that is getting better and better.

She came home this afternoon, and will be on antibiotics for the next few weeks, with a follow-up X-ray in a couple.  The one weird thing that still freaks me out a little is that she still has a little odd breathing pattern, with a periodic lull followed by a really deep breath.  The doctor said it is a side effect of the anesthesia and should get better.

Thank you thank you for all the well wishes, prayers, and even the little treats, cards, calls, and meals.  Its so nice to know we are cared about by so many wonderful people.

Another Quick Update

The docs thought that the cute little girl needed to stay one more day.  She is much more herself today-- she has even been able to walk a little in a shaky sort of way.  The MRI looked good, but she has a blood marker that should be half of what it is.  They think things are looking good but there is still a slight possibility that if that number doesn't come down by tomorrow, that they'll have to re-open her hip and look for any infection that they may have missed the first time.  I'm really really hoping they don't have to do that, we should know more in the morning.

The ups and downs have been hard, and I have felt so badly for the kids I have to keep leaving at home, especially the baby, but I have really enjoyed having time with her, and today we had a wonderful stretch of afternoon sun.

Little Girl Update

I think I've been through all ranges of human emotions over the last few days.   Gotten a little bit of perspective and a realization just how important one little six year-old human being is to me.

On Sunday, she had some leg pain that progressed to a trip to the ER.

Yesterday morning she had surgery on her hip.  They cleaned the joint in an effort to prevent what has the potential to cause permanent damage, after an ultrasound-guided needle inserted into her joint revealed a possible infection (during the first night in the ER).  When we first arrived in the ER, they did blood work and a regular X-ray, the most traumatizing event of the night, because they had to try to bend her knee and rotate it outward (cringe cringe cringe as I listen helplessly to her scream, since I couldn't be in the room! this made me feel so bad for her!)  All night she was in terrible pain, screaming and gnashing her teeth together, even after they gave her Morphine.  Then she had an ultrasound that showed quite a bit of fluid surrounding her femur.  After they pulled out some of the fluid via the ultrasound + needle, she finally slept sporadically and stopped the periodic screaming she had been doing since late afternoon the day before.  Her leg kept giving her painful spasms, so she wanted my hand on her knee as much as possible that night.

At 4 am the Orthopedic doc said they needed to operate right away due to the nature of the fluid they found in her joint.  He said "this is considered an orthopedic emergency."  Of course we were hoping to avoid surgery, but the alternative-- quick and permanent damage to her joint-- was worse (he said they can't even afford to wait for culture results to get back).

She came out of surgery about 10am.  She kept retching and was still really out of it for a while, I'm sure in part because she had slept so little the night before.  By afternoon she was a groggy sort of awake and got to watch a bunch of movies (it made me laugh that she wanted to watch Cupcake Wars much more than the movie I brought).

Miguel and I have taken turns with her and we've had family here to help (such a godsend!).  The hospital won't let any kids under 14 in to see her because we're in RSV season right now.  That has caused its own little problem.   So I took home some crestfallen tired ones when they were told they couldn't come in to see her, and I found out that later that afternoon one sister had locked herself in my closet.  She was especially affected by her sister's absence and worried and upset that she couldn't see her (see last post!).  I realized that the last time they saw her, she was being hauled away at night, screaming in pain.

Last night Miguel slept in the hospital with her and all the rest of the kids but one opted to sleep in my room or in my bed.  When I had left her the day before, they were concerned that her heart rate was still high (hovering around 150-160, ocassionally going even higher) and tested her to make sure she had no bacteria in her bloodstream.  Right now she is having an MRI to determine whether the infection is gone or whether they have to go back in and clean it out.

Thanks for the kind wishes from many of you.  Keep praying for her, we need it. :)

A Little Drama

So sorry, I was going to post goals today but I literally was up all night in the ER, minus a couple few minute snatches of head-against-the-wall sleep.

For an account of yesterday's happenings, read what my oldest daughter wrote on her (private) blog:

"Yesterday my little sister woke up and her leg started hurting. She could limp around a bit, but by midday all she did was lay in bed. We got her downstairs on the couch, and whenever someone would touch her toes up to her hip [anywhere on her leg] she would scream. Soon she would scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream no matter what. My mom took her to the hospital. I didn't go to sleep till 11:00 and woke up at 1:30. I couldn't sleep for 40 minutes. Then, my youngest brother woke me up. after that I literally slept 30 minutes. My dad told me she had septic hip or something like that, and she went through surgery this morning.

A few questions she kept asking [after anesthesia]:

Why do you have two heads?

Why does the doctor have two heads?

Was that a dream?

Was it this bad when Isa broke her leg?

She is supposed to be in the hospital for two days and I am not allowed to see her (!!!!!!!!)."

Scary night!  She had what I thought was a leg ache yesterday, but got so bad she couldn't walk or stop crying.   It's been a little nerve wracking, but she is doing well now.  More later. 

Month 9 Round-Up

So sorry, I had something fun planned for today but I cannot get it to work!  Darn, something to look forward to for another day.

So I'll just give you an old boring round-up for this month instead.  This month I worked on being a better disciplinarian.  It was kind of a joke (again you say?  I know I know).

I did make a list of all the discipline scenarios I see most days.  This was much easier than I thought.  All I had to do was set out a pen and paper for an afternoon and record the different challenges I faced as I went about my usual business.  I discovered that they are the same set of challenges I face pretty much every day!  Here is the list: turning on the TV before chores are done, doing something after being specifically told not to :), not getting off comptuer/TV when time is up, whining, not coming to dinner when I call (after, like 4 times!), eating foods intended for special occasions, poor manners, taking food out of the kitchen, not cleaning up after self, not getting chores done, reading after bed time, getting out of bed (sometimes quite a few times!), fighting over a toy or seat at the dinner table, screaming, hitting (little cute new tantrummer, I'm looking at you!), and ignoring basic personal hygiene.

I also made a rule list (only I'm not going to admit how late in the month I did it!).  Here it is, open to improvisation or improvement (I wanted it to be fairly simple, so even little kids can understand, and easily distilled into a few overarching principles, marked in bold...I also tried to frame things positively, though the very first rule isn't framed that way, just couldn't resist the Cars reference):

Here is a small sample of the list:

Respect  

For others and possessions.

No bitin’, no hittin’, no scratchin’, no takin’ toys, no spittin’, no screamin'.

Eat and keep food at the dinner table, please.  When you are finished, clear your things and a few more.

Show respect to others by using please, thank you, excuse me, and polite table manners.

Respect others, their homes, rules and possessions, too.

So, here is the sort of fail part.  I have learned how helplessly hopelessly I need to work on this.  Just being aware did not help in this case.  It made it worse, because seeing how badly we need a little discipline around here made me less patient.  So I tried to turn on the more authoritative me, and I stink at it.  I don't know how to do authoritative without being grouchy.  Or follow through more and be empathetic and loving about it.  The one exception is the tip I got from The Five Love Languages of Children-- to express love in some form when disciplining the child, ie, giving a hug on the way to a time-out, or saying "I love you."  That has become relatively easy for me, even when I'm angry, but I've been working on that for over a year now (I just don't put them in time out nearly enough, giving lots of chances in an increasingly distressed Mom voice).

So my month on trying to do better (and I know I'm just getting started, as the rules are just now being solidified) actually culminated, last night, in an ugly cross-the-line losin' it on my part in a dark, slushy Wal-Mart parking lot.  Yes, I lost it.  So lets just say this is something I will probably be working on until the day I die.

Happy happy weekend everyone!

You're My Little Koochey-Face and Other Awkward Endearments

Thanks for the comments lately, everyone!  You must have felt my ESP from far away, I was just feeling a little in need of some encouragement!  So thanks!

Before I had kids, I remember going out to eat with a mother and her two very active under-3's.  They were super cute and rambunctious and kept that woman hopping (and anyone else who was around)!  I remember formulating a few ideas about what I would or wouldn't do as a mother when I was around this little family.  One thing in particular I swore I'd never do was to talk in a baby-ish voice or give my kid awkward squishy honey-coated names of endearment.  Like "honey boo boo."  ESPECIALLY when that child was being naughty.

Ok, for today's post I am offering up myself on the altar of comic relief, because, well, you'll see.  Just keep your horror to yourself.  Now if you indeed have never given a weird pet name to someone or something, then just smile and shake your head.  But we all know you probably have.

Here are a few in our house (blush, blush):

Some of my more innocuous terms of endearment include calling kids by shortened names given by toddler siblings (one daughter is "my-my" sometimes).   I use "sweetie" a lot.  Even when I'm mad, which I probably shouldn't.  Honey, hardly ever.  Cutie, a lot. I like to call my girls "my girl," and my boys "my boy."  My littlest, whose name is Emerson, gets shortened to "Emer," or even "Sonny," or "E-mer-Sonny."

I'm just breaking you in a little here before I deliver the bigger ones, like boiling a toad gradually.

My husband and I, as a joke, started calling each other "lover" when we were first married.  We have never called each other honey or sweetie, just "lover."  At one point, our oldest, when he was about 2, would call us "lover" at times. Ha.  He'd say "come on, lover, lets go to the motorway," for example. :)

One of the funniest ones, as pointed out by a relative, is that I have tended to periodically call my babies, "precious," or "my precious."  Doesn't that just conjure up this image?  In addition, I will sometimes call this baby my "lovey dovey," "feller," "bubba" (huh?) or "my handsome."

And, last of all, drum roll please.  This is not a term of endearment.  It is just extrememly embarrassing.  Ever since my eldest child, when referring to nursing, I did indeed call it "num num."  (Arg!  Hall of Shame!)  Each time I had another baby I figured it would be a perfect time to change the terminology so as to embarrass myself less.  Especially since I nursed my three girls until 20 months-ish, they could definitely make a scene in a quiet place like church, shouting for "num num!"  Yet, each time, I sort of came to the conclusion that no matter what we call it, as soon as someone realizes what the child is talking about, it will probably gross them out no matter what (especially since most people see that as soon as a child can "ask for it," it's time to quit).  I don't know.

So enjoy this little video I had my son shoot for me.  To document some of our little endearments.  I just love Emerson's little face.  He always has the cutest little pleased smile on his face.  I purposefully put on the clothes/make-up my sister gave me, just for this video, as I feel so Natalie-Wood-ish in them :), and E is wearing my son's clothes from when he was this age (aw!).  Weird or not, I was inspired by the article referenced just the other day (here)-- some day I will want a record of this little exchange, even if its a little awkward-sounding now (and watching/listening to myself makes me cringe!)!

A Morning with the Littles

We've been cooped up a lot lately, due to sub-freezing temps, bad air, and back-to-back-to-back storms.   I found myself feeling a little extra grumpy about this the other day.  Normally I don't mind having a reason to snuggle up inside (and I love not having to worry about weeds in the winter!  hallelujah!), but this has felt a bit much.  So, in an effort to fight off the ugly mood, we've been trying to make the best of it.

(A so-easy craft!  Just ripped up tin foil to act as icicles.  The ripping and gluing is such a toddler delight, right?)

Yesterday, a good old fashioned run-around-silly-with-little-one-on-your-back reminded me that I need to do more of this!  Mine just eat it right up!  If we hadn't been stuck inside I would have missed the baby suck-in-air-and-giggle like this was the best thing in the world; his little cushy body bouncing on my back and little arms wound around my neck. Or his sister's delighted directing pointer finger, which never seemed to tire. :)

 These first three pics from a different day, the rest are from today.

(I go back and forth with the dough eating! Rite of passage or listeria-gifter?  Arg, what torment!  Do I need to repent?)

Today we spent some time on the living room floor, reading stories, singing "Once There Was a Snowman," (once?  ha, ironic) and melting our little hearts out (an enthusiastic three times), read about kids in other countries, empathy, and cooking (huh?  how did we come up with that combo?).   I turned on some music via my phone, let it sugar-coat the air as we brown-sugar-dipped, let out the spastic, periodic Elvis moves, and scooped out chocolate chip-studded gooey-ness.  It was one of those moments that I knew would evaporate before I knew it, and I knew all I could do was to live in it and enjoy it.   I love little innocent songs and teachable faces and wiggliness and outright love-you-with-all-their-hearts (most of the time).

And the lyrics to this song, called the Garden Song (by Andy Mason, from his Everybody Likes Pizza album) made me think -this is what it's all about. :)

If you want the short version, here are my favorite lyrics:

"Inch by inch, row by row, please bless these seeds I sow.  Please keep them safe below till the rain comes tumblin' down."

(*I have a little preschool curriculum that I bought years ago when my oldest entered kindergarten, and I have used it sporadically.  It has been fun to have around.  (I have tried three different companies when doing preschool with friends, and Funshine Express is my favorite)  Even if I didn't have one, there are coloring pages and craft ideas online for free.  Its nice to have a little structure and some prompts once in a while.)

Life Lately

A clean house is always something to document around here.  The bi-annual event.  :)



So is a project completion.  (the pillow in back)




Movie night.

I find this girl asleep with her light on and a pile of books very often lately. :)


Friend time.


Holding hands with "Brave" under a wrapping paper/boot blanket (using my fragile Christmas present as a bed).


Big kids go back to school.