More and more and more pox

Even though I knew that the chicken pox incubation period is 10-21 days, I have to admit that by the end of last week, and absolutely no signs of pox on Graham and Caris, I started to feel pretty confident that they'd missed the pox. I was a little disappointed since it would be so nice to get them out of the way, but of course relieved that my littlest ones weren't getting sick.

Saturday we went to Malachi's all-stars game for baseball. Malachi made all stars! GO BOY! Malachi's not the most explosive player, but he was probably the most consistent player on his team this year. He hit every time he got up to bat the whole season! He kept up the great play and hit 4/4 at the all-stars game. His team whomped the other team, which was especially great since his regular team had lost every game throughout the season.

After the game we headed over to Brea's 9th Birthday party. The boys changed into their swimsuits, and when Graham came over to ask me where his clothes should go, what did I see but a huge, bulging chicken pox on his side! I turned him around and there were several more on his back. Yikes! Graham, Caris & I made a quick exit from the party. I thought I saw a couple little red dots on Caris but her skin is so break-out-ish anyway, who could tell. Well, when we woke up Sunday sure enough, she had several herself.

It's hard being the parent and making the decisions. We are getting about a half & half response to our choice to not vaccinate for chicken pox. Some people think we made a bad move there (why let your child suffer something when a little prick could have prevented it?) and some understand that even though it totally sucks watching them suffer, it will be better in the long run to have just had them and be done with it. Still, it totally sucks watching them suffer. Graham's face must have at least 50 of them already. I can tell his case is going to be much worse than Malachi's. Thank God for Benadryl, Tylenol, oatmeal baths, and Mommy & Daddy love.

On a positive note, I was finally able to order all of our books and art supplies for this coming school year! How fun! I also had a 3-day streak of feeling really good last week and got the dining room bookshelves completely cleaned out. What a relief! I just love looking at them now that they're restored to order.

Graham's funny

Graham to Caris, rather indignantly: Caris, if you're gonna tickle me then you need to trim your nails, and I mean a LOT, because they ITCH. They feel like a sword.

The latest & greatest

When my Dad calls he often asks, "What's the latest and greatest?" Here it is:

Malachi has Chicken Pox! We don't vaccinate for CP but it was still a bit of a surprise when the little bumps went beyond possible bug bites. Yesterday he napped for 2.5 hours and today he napped for 4. He also told me his head and tummy hurt, but all in all he's acting pretty usual. Caris is running a bit of a fever today, so it's likely she will break out too in the next few days.

As far as my pregnancy, the nausea is about the same. Some days are pretty good, some are pretty bad. I'll be 12 weeks tomorrow, so hopefully it'll start to ease up from here. I noticed today that my belly was really pouching while I laid on my back on the couch. I look much more pregnant than I actually am, but when you're overweight AND having baby #4, I guess that's to be expected. I'm not in maternity clothes yet since despite the slowly growing belly, I'm still losing weight from the nausea and vomiting.

I wrote out the list of what all I want to order for our upcoming school year, and we are all so excited! I have to admit, I'm the most excited about science. Every single lesson is a hands-on experiment. How fun will that be??

It's bearable, mostly . . .

Thank God, the nausea has NOT gotten like it was with Caris. Last week was pretty bad, but this week has been a little better. Still there's at least part of most days that I don't feel well, but my biggest complaint is that all afternoon I have a horrible taste in my mouth and the major burps. Gross, isn't it?

We had such a nice visit with Megan and Jason. I ATE UP having them here, but the joy of it all was mixed with the bitterness of not feeling up to doing what all I'd like to have done with and for them. Megan's baby shower was an absolute blast! The ladies were so sweet, the venue was gorgeous, the food was good, and Megan was blessed with some really nice things. Then the day after the shower we went to Babysightings and got to see Baby Mills swimming and wiggling and as precious as any baby could be. It was AMAZING. And we also found out that Baby Mills can now be called Christian James! We were all pretty surprised that it's a boy baby in there, but HE is DEFINITELY a BOY. Jason is so proud. :-)

Not Nausea

Ok, definitely the extreme exhaustion was WAY better than the nausea. This is inching up to being just like it was with Caris. Please, please let it not get that bad. As of now it comes in waves, with most afternoons being fairly miserable. ::::::groan:::::

7 Weeks

I hope I don't turn my whole blog into a big ol' pregnancy journal. Sorry if I do. The evening of and the evening after my ultrasound, I had quite a bit of spotting. I was so afraid I was losing the baby, but after a few days it stopped. It is interesting to admit that I'm actually thankful for the pregnancy symptoms that have set in since then. I'm having some nausea. It comes and goes and isn't anything like what I had with Caris. Thank God. I'm extremely tired, and though I'll take that over severe nausea any day, it is disheartening that it feels like 11 pm all day long. Hopefully I'll have more energy with the second trimester!

We just finished up a 2-week session of swim lessons. It was to be Caris' first swim lessons in a "big girl" class, but she was kicked out by the young, inexperienced manager 10 minutes into the second day. I was more than annoyed. Malachi and Graham both performed really well and passed all of their classes.

Baseball season is in full swing (sorry for the groan-worthy pun). I am really enjoying it this year, except for the one night I almost threw up at the field. NOT good. Know what soothed the nausea? NACHOS. HA!

Only a few days until Megan & Jason arrive in town really soon! I CAN'T WAAAAAAAIT!

Autobiography

Here's something someone posted on the January 2007 message board. Thought my blog was a more appropriate place to fill it out. LOL

Your Autobiography
Part 1: The Birth of You

Were you a planned baby?: Yes
Were you the first?: 2nd
Who was present at your birth?: I think just my Dad & the hospital attendants.
Were your parents married when you were born?: Yes
What is your birthdate?: 9/7

Part 2: The Family

How would you describe your family?: Succinctly? A typical American family.
Are your parents married? Divorced? Seperate?: Divorced, both remarried
Siblings or an only child?: Older brother, younger sister
If you have siblings are you oldest, middle, or youngest?: Middle
What are your siblings names?: Jerod & Megan
Which parent do you get along with best?: Closest to my Mom, get along with both great
What do you fight about?: Hmm, don't really fight with either of my parents
Do you have step parents?: Yep, but they're not really like step parents - they're my parents' spouses.

Part 3: The Friends
Do you have more than one best friend?: I have several close friends
What do you like to do when you are together? Depends on the friend. I spend the most time with Lynette, and we pretty much walk or just hang out and talk
Do you share the same interests?: Totally!
Which friend can you tell anything to? Lynette, Megan, Liz

Part 4: Your Personality
How high/low is your self esteem?: It all depends on how much I've been in the Word. If I'm distant from God I feel pretty useless.
Do you get depressed about things easily?: Sometimes
Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Hmm. I've always been more extroverted, but I find that now that I spend so much time with my kids, I can really recharge with alone time - but not too much or it makes me lonely.
Are you happy?: Mostly, yes!
Do you live life to the fullest?: Pretty sure that's a big NO. LOL But - I'm satisfied with my life completely.

Part 5: Appearance
Are you comfortable with the way you look?: NO!
Do you have any piercings besides your ears?: No
Describe your hair? It's brown with highlights, shoulder length with long layers
What make-up do you wear?: All types. I love makeup!
How do you dress? Casual - capris, jeans with fitted tees
Part 6: The Past
Were you a strange child?: No - what a funny question!
What did you use to love that you no longer do? Exercise
Do you have the same friends?: A few
Was there anything in your past that was traumatizing? Of course

Part 7: The Future
What is your ambition?: To follow Jesus
Are you scared of growing old?: No
Do you want to get married?: I LOVE being married!!

Part 8: The Outdoors
Do you prefer indoors or outdoors?: Depends what I'm doing. I love swimming and walking, both outdoors. Eating I much prefer indoors - same with sleeping.
Favorite Season? Spring
Favorite weather? Warm but not hot
Do you like walking in the rain? Well, I loved it in Scotland but it rarely happens here

Part 9: Food
Are you a vegetarian?: No
What is your favorite food?: I love Mexican and Italian and sweets
What food makes you want to gag?: Coconut
What is your favorite dessert?: Dulce de Leche ice cream
What is your favorite restaurant?: Umm, Olive Garden? LOL
Are you a fussy eater? No

Part 10: Relationships and Love

Are you single or taken?: VERY taken
If taken who is the lucky guy/girl? My sweet husband
Do you think love is the best feeling in the world? Yes
Do you believe in love at first sight? Ummm, I think there was a definite chemistry right away for Alif & I, but love developed along the way

Part 11: Experiences

What was one of your greatest experiences?: Ooooh, too many. Being with Alif, dedicating my life to Jesus, moments with my kids, going to Scotland . . . I could go on and on!
What was one of your worst? Again, too many and too depressing to list LOL
Have you ever thought you were going to die?: Yes, after my car accident in 1995
Have you ever suffered from depression?: Yes, but never severe or ongoing

Scrambled Eggs

Ok, seriously? Malachi makes better scrambled eggs than I do. How's that for an exciting blog entry?

Finally sharing!!

Ok, for anyone who can't stomach menstrual details, run now! So - I had my last period on April 1. Shortly thereafter, around the end of April, I weaned Caris. I hoped that within a few months of weaning her, my body would get back to normal and I'd get pregnant. I traveled to Scotland and a few times while I was there, I wondered if I could be pregnant. I was peeing A LOT and actually got carsick on the way home from LAX. Well, no such luck, as I got a period on May 17th. Or so I thought. It was really strange because the whole period started as brown spotting and just kind of stayed that way. My Diva cup was almost empty each time I cleaned it, which is NOT at all normal. Then again, it was 8 days, which is about 2x as long as my usual period. I figured my cycles were still wacky since I'd just weaned & traveled. On May 28th I decided to start charting again. My temp was way high that day, as in post-ovulatory high. What? I was like, how can that be? My period just ended four days ago! So I figured it was a fluke, but the next morning, woah, another high temp! OMGosh! I took a pregnancy test, knowing it would be negative but really wondering what was going on. Oh ~ my ~ gosh, it was positive! We were all home, just having a relaxing, usual morning. I didn't want to tell Alif and have him get all excited until I knew exactly what was going on - what was with all that bleeding?? I had a couple days of bleeding when I first got pregnant with Graham and he was implanting, but 8 days? Oh my. 2 hours later I took TWO more tests - both definitely positive! At that point I called Alif in to take a look, and he was happy and excited and not at all nervous about the bleeding. "Bodies don't always work like we expect them to," he reassured me. I wasn't reassured. I started doing research online and was saddened to find out that one can have positive pregnancy tests long after a miscarriage. Was THAT what all the bleeding was? Why wasn't it heavier, more crampy? Why was my temp still high? I called the doctor, and went in to see the nurse practitioner on June 1. She did an internal exam and said my uterus was enlarged and soft, indicating a very early pregnancy, and ordered both an ultrasound and labwork to test my HCG levels. I had the HCG levels done that afternoon. The next morning we left for an overnight trip, and that afternoon I called the doctor's office and the lab until I could finally get my results, from the Dr. himself. He said my levels indicated a 5-6 week pregnancy, and he'd like to retest the levels on Monday and also do an ultrasound on Tuesday. I had my ultrasound this morning, and lo and behold, there was my tiniest sweet pea, heart flashing! I'm so excited and so relieved I could burst!! I'm due January 31!

Caris' Clifford Party

Caris had such a nice party! She had chosen a Clifford theme months ago, but when I went to buy party supplies on Thursday, no one in town carried Clifford! Shoot - we went with red instead, and got yellow, red & purple balloons, black confetti, and I had ribbon with pawprints on it. Lynette let me borrow some Clifford books to set around also. It was cute. She came over early to help me set up and did an excellent job frosting the pawprint cake and all the extra cupcakes. THANKS LYNETTE! We had a smaller party this year and it really was nice. It was a big enough crowd to feel festive, but not so big as to be overwhelming. We ate Subway sandwiches and chips and drank soda. Simple as can be. After lunch it was present time! I set Caris in a lawn chair and uh-oh, it tipped over and she landed on her face! She bled a lot but it turned out to be a tiny little cut in her lip. It's swollen today but thank God it wasn't worse. She received so many nice gifts! We have such generous family and friends. Our gift to her was a bike - oh, and Graham chose one of those ponies-on-a-stick for her. How cute! After presents we brought out the adorable bone-shaped sugar cookies Mom made (many compliments to my Mom on those, of course!) and the cake/cupcakes. We couldn't get the candle to stay lit because it was such a breezy day, but it stayed *almost* lit until time for her to blow it out. I don't think she was the wiser. LOL Graham was pretty concerned that she didn't get to actually blow her candle. After that the kids played, I handed out goodie bags (cellophane bags with pawprints on them with kool-aid playdough and bubbles inside, tied with the pawprint ribbon) and we all just visited for a bit longer. Morning parties are a hassle because of not having the whole day to get ready for them, but the relaxing afternoon after the party is so worth it. We napped and hung out and then went to Fred & Juanita's for dinner. Really all in all a wonderful day!

The new allergist rocks . . . so far

We took Caris to an allergy & immunology specialist on Monday at Cedars-Sinai. Now my little town has its fair share of good doctors, but our local allergy specialist (the one recommended to us, anyway) just could not get Caris' situation under control. Her eczema was causing us all grief on a daily, even hourly, basis. So off we went. The new allergist (we'll call him Dr. A) was absolutely wonderful. His office is hip and fun (though the front office girls are decidedly snotty) and Dr. A is just who we needed. He talked to the whole family respectfully, then did a quite thorough examination. He found, in fact, an ear infection we didn't know was there, and he said her constant itchiness is probably blocking her from feeling pain. We then did a second round of skin tests (the first having been performed by our local guy), and while we waited the 20 minutes for the results, the nurse brought in a portable dvd player for her to watch Elmo. Nice touch! Guess what? She came back highly allergic to peanuts, questionable for cats & dairy, and absolutely negative for bermuda, tree nuts, dogs and strawberries! Woo hoo!! We then went back into his consultation room and he explained the course of action he would like to take and made sure we understood every bit of it down to the smallest detail. (For example, I asked where exactly do I apply a certain medication, and he got up and physically showed us, "I would put it here, here, here . . . ") We are on day 3 of the new medications and her skin, nose and eyes are VASTLY improved already. I'm still a bit skeptical since we had great results in the past with other medications, but four days into each one the symptoms would all come back fiercely. For now, I'm holding out hope and enjoying the peace my daughter can have without scratching herself all day.

Mother's Day

What an absolutely perfect Mother's Day! We got up and walked to Fred & Juanita's as a family for breakfast, then walked home and tidied up a bit, then put kids down for naps. I laid down as well, then showered and Mom & Rod came over. Mom loved her bracelet and she got me the Betty Crocker Cooky Book and a Cuisinart electric tea kettle! Mom used that Cooky Book all while we were growing up, and like Alif said, "Your Mom sure knows her cookies!" That book will be a treasure to me and to my family!! The second I saw the tea kettle I burst into tears. When we were visiting Megan and Jason, Megan told us about her electric tea kettle and how essential it is. Actually, she said, "I can't imagine not having it!" I've been wanting a tea kettle for some time, and this was just perfect timing and the perfect one!!

Home from Scotland

I don't know where to even start in describing my trip to Scotland. I'm still trying to process it all, honestly. Maybe I'll do a tiny bit of a summary here and then go into more detail another time.
* Scotland is absolutely a beautiful, amazing place to be. The oldness of the country is astounding, and it's hard to understand from the pictures that it's not just that way in certain places, it's simply that way everywhere. How can the buildings be gorgeous and old everywhere you look? Incomprehensible for a country as new as ours. Time almost seems to stand still in Scotland, because life in general isn't quite as hustly-bustly. That may not be true for everyone, but just generally comparing Scotland to America, I find a much more leisurely pace there. It was refreshing in a way I'm not ready to give up, and yet here I am, back in the hustle-bustle of life in the US.
* My sister and her husband are doing just great. It is so nice to be around them! They're transparent and genuine and very, very sweet. I miss Megan so much already, and I've only been gone from her for a day. When I heard that she was going into missions, I thought time would heal all wounds when it came to being apart from her, but it honestly gets worse as time goes by. Going to see their home and their life and living with them for a week was so amazing, and at the same time, it was such a reminder of what all we're missing out on by not being part of each other's daily lives. I hate that part of it.
* I knew I'd love seeing Megan's life and being with her, but I really didn't expect to hear so much from God while I was there. That is the part I'm spending most of my time processing, actually. So many things about my life that I've been wanting to change, I saw played out while I was in Scotland. Mainly three things: health (eating and activity level), ministry and time online. I know those things sound so generic, but when they dominate a good part of my mind and physical life, it's huge for me to be so convicted about so many things, and encouraged seeing others live the way I aim to live. I keep asking God what it is that he wants me to do specifically, but I'm not hearing anything yet, so I will have to keep asking and keep listening. I know that his purpose for my life is a lot bigger than hours online every day and a physical lack of health that affects me tremendously.
* The kids and Alif did GREAT while I was gone! God did cool things in Alif while I was away, and the kids have adjusted back to having me at home nicely. They were busy and happy and secure, and that's all I could ask for!
* It IS really great to be home. I'm still adjusting (doesn't that sound weird, after only a week away??) and I'm still exhausted, but life is continuing on like usual, for the most part, and I am sure in a week I'll feel like a new woman.

Friday, May 5

It's so odd that it's Friday already! We left LAX at 3:30 on Wednesday and arrived here in Glasgow at 1:15 pm Thursday. Mom & I did not sleep on the plane, which shocked me! Our flights were otherwise great though, and our trip so far has been totally charming. Megan & Jason treated us to a Black Cab ride back to their flat, which was adorable, and then we sat around and talked for a while. Then we headed out to dinner at a pub/restaurant called Waxy O'Connor's. It was absolutely beautiful there and the food was great. We had such a nice time talking! Just before we left there, it started to rain and that made this really feel like the Scotland experience. The neighborhood where M & J live is 200 years old and beautiful and the rain on top of that was amazing. Not only was it rain but a massive lightning storm too. Impressive! We had ridden the train downtown so luckily we didn't have to actually walk through much rain. Anyway, we woke up at 5:52 this morning (why did we wake up so early??) and we have a NieuCommunities team breakfast at 9:30. Later we'll go to a Bible group, then to a Scottish folk dance called a Ceilidh (KAY-lee) where we will hear live Scottish music, dance, and eat Mexican food. How enjoyable! I totally love that I can blog while I'm here!

We're leaving in 2 days!

TWO DAYS! I can't "bweeve" it! (As Caris would say). It's hot here, and boy is that heat draining my energy! We actually are running our air conditioner for the first time this year. I have it set on 80º and it's coming on every so often. Well, off to do more packing & preparation!

Tonsillitis

Yesterday my illness went to a whole new and unbearable level, so I went to the doctor YET AGAIN today, and I have tonsillitis. Yay for antibiotics.

Weaning Update

So weaning is going increasingly well, in case you care to know! My drinkies have decided to cooperate! Hooray! 2 days ago one side was really aching so I let her nurse for a few minutes, and since then everything's fine! The only bummer is that Caris is really taking it hard. She is so sweet and compliant, and she does little misbehaviors here & there, but rarely am I frustrated with her. Well, the last 3 days have been . . . frustrating to say the least. LOL She's been just really trying to get my attention any way she can, and I can see that she'll need some extra-special time with me for a while. Yesterday I gathered her up and we had a mommy-daughter picnic on the porch, and she LOVED it. She said, "this is fun" and "I wuv you, Mommy" and "it's nice" over and over and over. Awwwwww.

It's Saturday

OMGosh we're almost down to single digits! I am so excited I can't stand it!

still moaning

Yesterday was pretty miserable with the head cold. My nose and eyes were itchy and running like a drippy faucet. Literally - it was pretty gross. Today I woke up with a very stuffy nose but little else, so it's been a nice day. We celebrated Lyn's Birthday with a pizza lunch that was just really fun! I took a tiny rest during the kids' quiet/naptime, and have been sewing and cleaning and playing and reading and all the things Mommies do. Well, I finally took my inhaler to hopefully ward off the chest settling I tend to get with colds, and it is helping with the coughing of junk. I feel a fever coming on. Most women whine about their husbands being awful sick people, but if anyone in this house has a right to complain about that, it's Alif. I'm a terrible person to be near when I'm sick. What a moaner!

Not again ::::::moan:::::::

I woke up sick today. Again. This one is a totally miserable head cold. I cannot remember a year we've had so many sickies in this house! GO AWAY and leave us alone, would you?

Lynette & I took all the kids today and signed up for next year's Bible Study. Yay.

I'm resting and sewing and working and resting today.