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We had our second trip ever to the ER last night. This time it was for Julia.
After complaining for an entire day about a headache, Julia began vomiting and running a low grade fever. It was concerning, the headache part especially, but we decided to put her to bed early. When she woke up around 9 vomiting, we made the decision to take her to the ER.
{resting yesterday afternoon}
The ER doctor said that she has a bacterial infection and prescribed antibiotics. We weren’t given an real explanation as to why she’s had a headache, but thankfully as of this morning she said it doesn’t hurt.
Last night, after Jonathan and Julia left for the hospital I sent out a text to some friends to pray for her. My friend, Leah, sent me this text back ::
“No one ever told me how very hard it is to be a momma and love your kids.” Amen. As a mama, having your kids face any hardship – especially sickness – is way heartbreaking and scary. And it really is hard to walk through that with confidence that God is in control. But He is. Even when we don’t see it or understand it, He is.
I’m grateful that our two {and hopefully no more} ER trips have ended without true concern. I’m grateful for a daughter who doesn’t have any major health issues {nor do the other kids}. And I’m grateful for a God whose love is even deeper for Julia than my own.
My family is my Friday {and every other day} Joy.
- In: Life
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I have a hard time writing a post after I’ve written something more serious. But, alas, I figured if I’m going to write again it might as well be light and airy.
Which is exactly what this skirt is ::
As soon as I tried it on I loved it. But, because of the length, I was rather apprehensive. So, I facebooked it. I got yeses all around, so I bought the skirt. At the prompting of Jill, I knew I couldn’t leave the skirt at it’s current length. It’s tea length, which is frankly not my favorite style and doesn’t look all that great on me.
Because of a few sewing projects gone bad over the last few months, I’ve been a little gun shy when it comes to using my sewing machine. But, I knew if I ever wanted to wear my new skirt, I would have to suck it up and hem.
So I did ::
I measured 7″ all around the base of the skirt, cut up the side seams, then cut along my markings with the curve of the skirt. Once the skirt was cut, I turned the fabric under and hemmed away. Very slowly. I made a few mistakes {while cutting} but so far only I can tell. Jonathan noticed it once I pointed it out, but assured me he couldn’t tell before {and wouldn’t notice it even after knowing}.
I’m pretty pleased with the outcome. And it was a great project to get me back in the sewing saddle. Perhaps I’ll tackle this skirt next.
What fun and crafty adventures have you done lately?
Visit Alicia at Alicia’s Homemaking for more Try New Adventures Thursday.
- In: Life
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I’m not sure when it first dawned on me that I’m an angry person. Fiery, sure. But angry? Me? Never. Angry is something mean people are. Angry is that man who loses it over being served a tomato on his hamburger when he clearly asked for none. Or that woman at the store who is yelling at the top of her lungs at the cowering manager. I am not angry like that.
Do I tend to get heated over certain topics? Of course. But that’s passion.
Does my blood boil when someone crosses the line with me? Yeah. But that’s justice.
Yet for years there has silently been a fire burning inside me. A fire that has lashed out at my adoring husband and sweet children. A fire that has slowly been burning my house to the ground.
One afternoon, in mid-February, the fire took over. I raged, literally, raged with anger, and my girls felt the full effects. While I’ve always been pretty transparent on my blog, I’m keeping the details of that moment private because frankly they are painful and heart crushing – nothing worth retelling.
The after effects of a fire are not pretty. Life is burned. Ashes of what once were are left in heaps on the floor. It is ugly and resembles death.
When I walked away from that moment, I crumbled. I hid from my children for the rest of the day. I couldn’t trust myself. When Jonathan came home, I wept. “I need help. I’m scared of myself, of what I am becoming.” I cried. Through an evening of prayer, repentance and reconciliation, I took my first steps toward putting out the fire.
I finally came to terms with the fact that I have some deep seeded anger issues. How and why they are there are varied, but one thing is certain, they cannot stay. I refuse to allow my children to grow up with an angry mom. In what has been a bold, yet humbling step, I’ve started meeting with a counselor. For the last month, I’ve been taking what seem to be minuscule steps toward recovery. I’ve spent a lot of time identifying my “trigger points” and learning to redirect my thought process and words during heated moments.
I wish I could say thing are rosy and peaceful now. But they aren’t. I still struggle with lashing out. I see the effects of my anger played out before my eyes, especially in Julia when she lashes out in the same manner that I have. Which is heart breaking coming from such a sweet child – and soul wrenching realizing it’s my sin that has done it. My first reaction to most stressful situations is still anger. But, through more grace than I will ever comprehend, I am starting to see moments of healing shine through. Moments that would have made me scream and yell, now make me step back and redirect. Moments where I feel a peace only God gives, because I know all too well that it is not my own. Moments of healing and restoration, of finding joy where there was once sorrow.
Facing your sin is hard. It’s ugly. It’s painful. It gets down right nasty at times. But there is hope. Hope in the promise of Christ. He ransomed us from sin through his death and resurrection, because of his overwhelming love. So, yeah, facing your sin is hard. But through Christ, and what He’s done, we don’t have to face our sins alone.
I was in the final touches of writing a really helpful post about post-tonsillectomy recovery for children. I planned to put the finishing touches on it this morning.
Then Hannah refused to sleep last night. That girl was up every 1.5-2 hours all night long. She complained that her “mouth was on fire” and no matter how much pain medicine or ice cold water we gave her, she was miserable all night. Which translates into Jonathan and I being up all night {and truthfully, pretty miserable too}.
Exhaustion has set in and my brain is no longer functioning at a blog post worthy level. And while I’m craving a nap like nobody’s business, Hannah’s acting like last night never even happened….
- In: Life
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When it comes to television, I’m a straight shooter : Give me a good sitcom and leave the drama for ya mama. I can’t get beyond one season of most dramas, and I’ve tried a lot {Brothers and Sisters, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and only two episodes of SMASH to name a few}. With all the sexy-sex, over dramatic plots and soap opera like episodes, my brain starts hurting. Until now.
I watched my first episode of Once Upon a Time just before Joseph was born. I’ve been hooked ever since. Despite being a drama, you don’t get the overtly sexual tension that seems to propel most dramas. And there’s something about splitting episodes between “our world” and “fairy tale” world that is quite appealing. Like a “where are they now” of all your favorite fairy tale characters. The writers have done a great job of delving into the characters and writing out their stories while building the plot. Not to mention the crazy spins the writers have put on the characters and plots {Red Riding Hood IS the big bad wolf?? Didn’t see that one coming}.
The season is wrapping up in May, and while I’m eager for next season, I’m also a little worried. Once the characters have been written out, where will it go from there? Are they going to start adding outlandish plots and turning it into just another nighttime soap opera? Or are they going to leave the sexy-sex behind and give us quality television?
However the series goes next season, I highly recommend you watch this season. It totally rocks.
What’s your favorite show on tv?
- In: Life
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We are heading back to the hospital today for the second time this week. And again it’s for Hannah. However, this visit has been planned for over a month.
Hannah’s having her tonsils removed today.
Last fall, we noticed that Hannah was exhibiting similar sleep apnea issues that Julia also had. We thought at first that she may just have allergies, and decided to wait to pursue things medically. By January, when things had not cleared up, we took her to the pediatrician. From there, we were referred to pediatric ENT.
The ENT visit took all of 10 minutes. The doctor asked us a few questions, did a quick exam on Hannah, but once he found out we’ve been through a tonsillectomy with Julia, he signed up right up for surgery. It all happened faster than I expected {given that it took months before surgery became an option for Julia}, but I knew it was for the best.
Our fridge is stocked with juice and pudding, and our freezer is stocked with popsicles and ice cream. Hannah’s surgery is scheduled for 11am. She’s been drinking juice all morning, since she’s not allowed any solid foods.
Because Hannah wasn’t allowed solid foods after 2am, Jonathan got her up around 1 and had a midnight snack with her. Apparently, she ate TWO tuna fish sandwiches and a bowl of goldfish. I’m pretty grateful she had such a big appetite, because it’s made not having breakfast a lot more bearable.
The weekend will be spent lounging around, watching lots of Super Why! episodes and keeping Hannah nice and comfy as she recovers. Perhaps not quite the adventure I’d want for her, but an adventure all the same.
Do you have your tonsils? Jonathan and I both do, but now the kids are 2-1.
Visit Alicia at Alicia’s Homemaking for more Try New Adventures Thursday.
- In: Life
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Last Saturday morning started off with a nice peaceful feel. It was oddly productively lazy. The house was clean, the kids were playing nicely and there was a calm that hovered over. A calm before the storm.
Around 11 am, as we are all getting ready to leave for a friend’s birthday party, Hannah asked to have a vitamin. As I got the bottle, she asked to take out the vitamin herself. I obliged. Then she asked if she could give one to Julia. I obliged. And then, in the busyness of getting ready, I lost track of the bottle.
After some time, Hannah came up to me, vitamin bottle in hand, and said “Mama, there’s only two left!”
We immediately start questioning Hannah as to where the vitamins were. Turns out she ate them. We aren’t completely certain, but our closest estimate is that Hannah consumed about 30 iron fortified chewable vitamins.
I immediately called my mom {who’s a nurse}, while Jonathan started searching on Google for overdose risk. My mom calmly advised that we take her to urgent care, just to make sure that nothing serious happens. And then Jonathan read this ::
Iron overdose is considered a leading cause of poisoning-related death in young children.
Let me just say – that one sentence can evoke a fear I didn’t know existed. Before I knew what happened, Jonathan grabbed Hannah and rushed her to the ER. Over the next 3 hours, they ran tests and X-rays on Hannah to determine her toxicity level.
Being the parent that stays behind is painful. For the first hour and a half, I only got information as Jonathan was able to text it. Once the X-ray was complete and the radiologist was consulted, the doctor said that Hannah was on the lower end of being in danger {quote “a 3 out of 10”}. She and Jonathan were sent home where we were to monitor her for vomiting, diarrhea and lethargic behavior.
With in 30 minutes of being home, Hannah began exhibiting all the signs the doctor described. We went on a “watch and wait” system to determine if we needed to have her re-admitted. We prayed and decided to keep her home and let her nap {by this time it was a good two hours past her normal naptime}. She curled up in our bed with Jonathan, were they both slept off the eventful morning.
By that evening, Hannah said she felt much better. She was still having a few GI issues, but was holding down her food and drink. We had her sleep in our room overnight so we could be nearby in case any issues arose. Thankfully they didn’t, and by Sunday morning, the vitamin fiasco was like a bad dream.
Funny enough, when I was Hannah’s age, I overdosed on some children’s medicine. Looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Did you ever overdose as a child? If you have kids, have you ever had an overdose scare?
- In: Life
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This weekend, like most, was done before I knew it even started. My birthday was Sunday, but we began our celebration festivities Friday night with tacos from Torchy’s Tacos ::
Saturday morning was a laid back but productive. I managed to get some cleaning done, laundry put away and relaxing with the girls while Jonathan and Joseph slept in.
Around 11, things took a turn for the crazy, when we discovered that Hannah ate an entire bottle of children’s chewable vitamins. Like, rushing to the ER crazy. {I have a whole post about it for you tomorrow.} But despite all the drama from the morning and afternoon, we went ahead with my birthday dinner party {which, thankfully, was only a mile from our house since I was slightly paranoid to leave Hannah}. It ended up being a good way to close out a rather emotional day.
Sunday was my actual birthday. We woke up early and headed downtown so I could run in the Capital 10K race with my friend, Adriane.
It was a really fun race, but I was surprised at how packed it was. Since it’s a “fun run” there were a lot more casual walkers than I expected, which was challenging for the first 2-3 miles as we weaved around the crowds. I initially wanted to finish in under an hour, but with all the masses came in at just over an hour {1:03:17}. Given the 20K+ people participating, and being stuck right in the middle of the crowd, we still made really great time.
Thanks to the back of my shirt, I got quite a very “happy birthday!”s while running. 🙂
The weekend ended quietly, spending time with good friends and our missional community.
How was your weekend?
- In: Life
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Remember how I painted our front door blue?
There was some discussion in our house about how the door didn’t seem complete. That it needed color to help round it out. While it’s hard to tell from the picture, we do actually have flowers planted around the front {some have yet to bloom for the season}, which will help with adding color to the area. But Jonathan and I agreed we needed something more.
So I made a fabric wreath.
I used felt to make the flowers {via a tutorial from Alicia!} and cream colored yarn to wrap around the wreath. I used a lot of spring colors, just to give it some more pop.
We had some friends, Matt and Kristen, visit us from Iowa last week. They both said they liked the color, but Matt suggested that it was probably only a good color for the spring and that we might not like it as much come late summer/fall. Very true. Thanks to the color choice of the wreath it does seem to have an Easter egg look to it. *sigh*
I still like it. And it was pretty fun making the wreath – something I’ve wanted to try for a long time, but just have never made time for. Made I can pick some other colors for the fall and winter, but I’m at a lost for what colors to choose. Any suggestions?
What fun adventures have you had lately?
Visit Alicia at Alicia’s Homemaking for more Try New Adventures Thursday.
- In: Life
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Last June, just before Hannah’s second birthday, we started potty training. For about 2 months, she did fabulously.
Then her little big personality kicked in.
You can't stop this dancing queen
Hannah doesn’t like to be made to do anything. She started to refuse going to the bathroom, despite all our tricks and treats. She’d intentionally wait until we put on her pull-up before she’d pee. If we tried to initiate going to the potty, she’d dig her heels in and fight us every step of the way.
So we stopped.
Hannah was thrilled. She’d laugh and say that she’d pee in her pull-up and that “it’s ok, I don’t mind”.
Two weeks ago, when I was on solo-parent night-duty, she pooped in her pull-up {something she hasn’t done in for-ev-er} because she “didn’t want to sit on the potty”. After that incident, I told her she’d need to start wearing a diaper. As soon as I put it one on her, she laughed and said “I’m a baby like Joseph!” *face palm*
Too cool for {potty} school
The next morning, I told Hannah she was going to wear a diaper again. She did her whole “YAY!” act and grabbed a disposable diaper. That’s when I threw her a curve ball. Disposables are night time diapers. Cloth diapers are day time diapers. Her bubble got slightly deflated, but she pushed through and put on the cloth. Within five minutes she was complaining, asking to take it off. I explained that she would need to keep it on, since she was refusing to go on the potty.
Then the begging happened.
Hannah promised she’d start going in the potty again, if I would please let her take off the diaper and let her wear underwear.
So I did.
That was a week ago last Sunday. She hasn’t had an accident since.
Hannah – 0
Mom – 1
Bring it, little girl. Mama’s still got a few tricks up my sleeve.
A Wife Loved Like The Church 
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