Unexpected-ness

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started blogging. I knew that I was at least literate enough to be able to put words on paper and make some sense. I knew my main goal was to have a way to remember all of the stuff that my kids did. But it turns out that there’s so much more.

One unexpected benefit is in my spirituality and closeness to God. I used to have prayer time every morning where I would use a prayer journal. I had pictures of my family and one or two close friends who I would offer up in prayer every day (or as often as I could with this many munchkins running around). And then I started blogging.

At first I was just reading other people’s blogs. And they touched my heart. Through some encouragement (and frankly, it didn’t take much) I started my own. And I soon found myself praying for other bloggers. I prayed for Fishsticks after the loss of Quinn and during her pregnancy with Briar. I prayed for "Aunt Becky"'s little Amelia before she was even born and then more consistently during her brain surgery. I was completely moved by Stellan and his miraculous healing. I prayed for Jennifer and her twin girls. I cried and prayed for Multiple Baby Pile-Up when they lost their Jack. I prayed for Matt Logelin and Madeline after the loss of Liz. It seemed not a day would go by when someone, somewhere in the virtual world was hurting. I had to take a step back when the hormones that come with pregnancy and post-partum hit because I had to focus on surviving.

I stopped visiting every website that was “tweeted”, asking for prayers. I quit linking to every sad, heart-wrenching story because my own heart needed protecting. You can only cry so many tears. But God hears them all, even the prayers that aren’t spoken.

And then I followed the link to Layla Grace…and my heart broke for this family. They are living a nightmare and doing their best to make sure that her life is not in vain. I cannot imagine having to hold my child while she is dying and knowing there is nothing you CAN do except pray. For peace. For freedom from pain. For what? It’s so hard to know what to ask God for. They wanted her to be healed. And they truly believe that she WILL BE. They’ve accepted that it may not be on their terms but when the Lord holds this sweet, sweet girl she WILL BE perfect. That, my friends, is faith like no other. May God bless them and sweet, sweet Layla Grace.

Our "Little" One

It's been quite awhile since I've posted an update on our "baby". She's 9 months old now and crawling ev-er-y-where! This is a huge relief given the difficulties that Baby Girl had with gaining her mobility (she didn't crawl until 2 days after her first birthday - a story unto itself). She recently got her second bottom tooth and has been sleeping a bit better since then. She still doesn't really see the need to sleep past 5 AM (that's in the morning) but at least we don't spend hours hanging out in the rocking chair in the middle of the night right now.

Her health has been good. Aside from the double ear infection and pink eye, she has been great! My SIL bought me a professional stethoscope from a medical supply store and taught me how to use it. I listen to all 4 kids pretty much every day so that I'll know if something changes in their breathing. Neurotic much? Yeah, well, I hate, hate, hate not knowing when they're wheezing. Thankfully, we're good right now.

Little One is learning to pull up and prefers to stand rather than sit. That is, she wants you to stand her up and then hang around in case she wants to sit back down. After all, you are here to do her bidding. She's not quite the diva that her sister is, but we think she's learning! She does try to pull up on everything but hasn't quite figured out that she can't. For example, we have those magnetic letters on the fridge. NOT good for pulling up on and she tries every.day. Also not good? The tub. She has a good-sized purple bump on her forehead right now from the tile floor. Ouch!

She didn't have an "official" 9-month well-baby visit yet, but we were at the pediatrician's office on her 9-month birthday so I asked the doc to weigh her, out of curiosity. Ready? She weighs 22 pounds 4 ounces!! Her older sister? Currently weighs about 26 pounds. She wasted no time catching up.

From this:

To this:

In 9 short months! Amazing!

She brightens our lives and truly makes our family complete. She's one of my four favorite kids on the planet (even if she did say Da-DEE first). What will she do next?

Anginophobia

Fear of choking. I have a slight case of anginophobia, although it's not geared towards me. I am terrified of my kids choking. I've survived starting table food with three kids so far, but the fact that I break out in a cold sweat when someone else's kid coughs at a restaurant is a sure sign that I'm not "over" this fear.

In all fairness to me, you'd be freaked out, too, if you had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on your first-born - MORE THAN ONCE!! It started when he was 10 months old and I was cleaning out my purse. I accidentally dropped a wadded up gum wrapper and didn't notice it had fallen. He picked it up and tried to eat it (naturally) and it got stuck. I could hear him breathing but it was definitely stuck in his windpipe. Mr. MOTH had to knock it out. Shortly after that (I'm talking less than 48 hours) my SIL Chris (a nurse) showed us how to properly do the Heimlich (which we had done wrong but at least it still worked). And then I made my other SILs show me again. And again.

When he was approximately 14 months old, he choked on squash. Not baby food squash, but the frozen pureed kind. Some of that stringy substance got caught and he wasn't breathing. By the time I got it out (just as Mr. MOTH was walking in the door from work) we were both sobbing and completely covered in the orange goop.

The worst was the banana. He was probably 16 months old? He was just learning to take bites and I had given him banana for breakfast. It was a weekend and Mr. MOTH was sleeping in (some things never change) and he started to choke. I called for my husband once and I swear that his feet never touched the stairs, he was at my side that quickly. The Heimlich on an infant involves 3 thrusts on the back, turn over and do 3 more on the front, and then 3 again on the back (and then freak the frick out). I was just about to do the 3 on the back for the second time when it came out. It is an extremely vivid memory. Extremely. Vivid.

So when I break Little One's Cheerios in half, shut up. You don't know.

It didn't help that the headlines today involve this story. I think I'll go buy stock in Gerber now...

And Then The Angels Sang!

I'm not like most mothers in that I actually like kids. Mine, in particular. Some moms can't wait for Christmas vacation to come to an end. A lot count down the days until school starts after summer vacation. I'm the opposite. I like having all of my chicks under one roost and I enjoy spending time with then. That being said, if there's another frickin' snow day I'm going to lose my ever-loving mind!!

The difference is that when there's a school break that's planned, I'm prepared. There are extra snacks around and there are activities that we can do. During the summer we can actually leave the house. I wasn't prepared for this. Sure, I've always got a few tricks up my sleeve (think magic blanket rides galore and several new DVDs - I enjoyed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), like any mommy worth her salt should, but this was over-the-top. I can't remember EVER in my own childhood having more than 1 or 2 snow days in a row. Oldest Boy had four (4!) and then a two-hour delay. And then a sick day. Followed by another snow day. It's been insane! Thankfully we had a double birthday party (that we only had to postpone one day) and that provided us with a plethora of new! and exciting! games and toys.

But today, TODAY, is the first day in over 12 days that both boys have been to school. And I'm a little ashamed to say I'm more than thrilled. WOOHOO!!! And so are they...

By The Numbers

8...infected ear drums
7...cases of conjunctivitis (pink eye). (Baby Girl only has one infected eye)
6...cranky family members
5...prescriptions that Mr. MOTH has to pick up tonight
4...whiny, miserable yet somehow still adorable children
3...sleepless nights for Mr. MOTH - and counting
2...days left of my antibiotics
1...case of bronchitis (Me)
0...children wheezing (I'm almost afraid to type that lest Dr. Murphy and his idiotic law decide to pay me a visit).

Beautiful Girl

Our Baby Girl turned 3 years old this past weekend. There are so many things about her right now that I just don't want to forget. Like the way she insists on helping me make pizza every Friday night. She's a super little helper and I thoroughly enjoy this time. She's still not quite steady when she's standing on a less-than-firm surface and she has to lean on the counter to balance herself so she can roll the dough. She will go to the drawer in the island and get the rolling pin out herself and start to roll if she hears the timer go off and I'm not right there waiting. I try very hard to not rush her, even though there are hungry boys waiting for their dinner:

She's quite the little artist. I try to compliment her creations even though it's very unusual to actually be able to identify what they are. This easel was the most well-spent money for us for the whole Christmas season. She uses it every.single.day. My favorite was when she drew "Vader". As in "Darth".

Her appetite is...interesting. It seems to rely primarily on her bathroom capabilities. She's still have a little trouble with constipation but we're working on it. Her diet consists largely of breakfast cereal bars and "scary" olives (which she places on each finger and then chases you with). She loves pasta and pizza and chip chicken lollipops and will usually request one of those for dinner. She also loves cake. And chocolate. Did you know that M&M's are not chocolate? Yeah, me neither.

She loves to watch Playhouse "Dizzy" every morning, although she only actually watches it for one or two shows. If you try to turn it off, however, you'll regret it! She is the queen of the "memote" and is only happy if she is the one to turn the TV off.

She adores her brothers and tries so hard to play with them. But she is all girl. When they fight with light sabres she has to have one but if they get too close she curls up into a little ball like she's trying to protect her vital organs. She went outside after the "Blizzard of 2010", wearing her brothers' hand-me-downs, but only wanted to color with chalk on the garage floor :)
She's the one who made me a mommy to a little girl. She made our world a little softer and a little sweeter. She made her mommy and daddy and brothers smile just by wearing pink. I miss the "Baby" girl, but I love the girlie girl that I'm getting to know every day. Don't grow too fast, sweet. And never lose that sense of wonder.

Lessons Learned

This week I learned:

Baby Orajel works wonders on an 8-month old trying to cut her first tooth. However, it does NOT feel at all good in The Mommy's eyes at 3AM when she forget she just put it on the baby and tries to rub the "boogies" out of her eyes...

It takes approximately 3-4 weeks for a mouse who was stuck in the ceiling to run out of food and water, die, and begin to decay...

A queen-size comforter can handle three children for magic blanket rides around the downstairs. The Mommy's back can only handle one child at a time...

A (almost) 3-year-old girl's moods can easily outshine her brothers' at the same age. (I want to say my prayers! Sit, please! I don't want to say my prayers! And repeat...at least 4,689,212 times)...

Jokes are funny when you're (almost)3, 5, and (almost)7...even if they're not. Baby Girl's favorite joke:
Knock, knock!
Who's there?
Ivan!
Ivan who?
I've been working on the railroad...

OR
Knock, knock!
Who's there?
Broccoli!
Broccoli who?
I've been working on the railroad...

The boys' favorite joke:

What color is a burp? Burple!!
What color is burple? A sandwich!