WOW and really?!?!

I had told myself that I was going to do more blogging. Not that the world needs one more blogger, but I needed to write more. The blogs are not as frequent as I had anticipated because I have had an INSANE year so far and we are only in April.

January=Surgery and long recovery
February=Hospitalized child, EG identification
(not to mention new job for my husband and insurance changes)
March=Dr, Dr, Dr, Dr and figuring out EG
April=An old/new family member
(not to mention pastor leaving and church in upheaval)

R     E     E     L     I     N     G

If I had to do this by myself I would be in fetal position on the floor yelling "uncle".

I don't have to do this by myself.

I have Christ. 

Oh yeah--I am one of THOSE people.  I recently debated/argued over saying "My God" vs. "The God". I say my God because He is just that--mine. I have a personal relationship with Him that is---just me and Him. Just like I would say he is my dad--he is mine but he is also the dad of my brother and my sister, nonetheless he is mine. God is my God, he is also the God of everyone else but he is, nonetheless, mine. Saying my God does not exclude or negate the fact that he is the God of everyone else.

I struggle for and have sought after peace. Peace in my current situation but also peace in my past decisions as well as the everlasting effect of those decisions. Christ has given me peace. He has given this naturally shy, second guessing, insecure person a spirit of strength and conviction. I am transformed from my inherent self into a patient (mostly), peaceful, strong person. I stumble and make mistakes but my inner core is not shaken. There have been times when I have thought a meltdown was imminent but one breath at a time later I am still standing on my feet, head up, looking forward, trying my best to take care of my family, love my husband, love my neighbor and figure out what God wants me to do while I am here.

Politics

I am sick of the Democrats and the money trees that Obama must think grow prolifically in the U.S. I am sick of his HUGE government that is inefficient, ineffective and not to mention, enabling. I am sick of the Republicans and the idiotic candidates that have been proffered up to the public as viable presidential options. I am sick of their desire to increase the strength of the Patriot Act thereby decreasing my rights and individual freedoms.

Then, a breath of fresh air...Ron Paul. I agree with what he says. He is the little engine that just keeps on going. He is the tortoise. The media discounts him, slanders him, ignores him and tells the world that he is not electable. He speaks with common sense and a respect for all humanity. He does not like big government. He believes in the rights of each individual. He believes in talking to the countries with which we have a conflict instead of taking steps towards war by imposing strict sanctions.

I am tired. I want good choices when I vote for President. I want common sense to prevail. I want a government that is not in debt of an incomprehensible amount. I want a government that protects my rights and civil liberties. SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, Open--all ways of taking away my freedom, my choice, my ability to innovate, create and explore. My expression is no longer free...

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.

Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

Mommy Sick Mode

Child 1 and Child 3 got sick at the same time but with two, very different things. Child 3's was painful and long lasting. Child 1 got an antibiotic and was at school the next day. Child 3 was sick and crying for a week. Child 2 jumped on the scene with Child 3's illness about halfway through Child 3's recovery, extending mommy sick mode by another 4 to 5 days.

Mommy sick mode...
No continuous sleep longer than 2.5 hours.

No continuous sitting longer than 10-15 minutes.

Medicine locator, dispenser, log keeper.

Magician...be able to open tiny packets of medication at 2 o'clock in the morning after having had 1.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep, making sure to read tiny writing on tiny packet first, to double check dosage.

Pharmacist...must know amount of medicine to give based on weight and age, dosage times, what medicines interact with others to be the most beneficial to child.

Creative cook...must creatively think of things that child will eat, make them over and over again, time this well with medication so child feels good enough to eat it.

Line cook...make many different items with one bite eaten from them and then turned down, time this well with medication so child feels good enough to eat that one bite. Don't forget to cook dinner for those healthy family members.

Angel...do not ever lose patience with sick children. It is not their fault, combat the ceaseless whining and crying with hugs, kisses and love.

Entertainer...think of things that sick child can do while spending a week at home, miserable.

Teacher...help child make up mountain of work that has been missed, time this well with medication so child feels good enough to do it.

Interpreter...discern meaning of hand gestures and grunts.

Germ eradicator...wash sheets and pj's in hot water to ensure elimination of evil germs, wipe down all counters multiple times a day, clean bathrooms, don't forget door handles or toilet handles used repeatedly by sick child

These duties are in addition to other errands, chores and parenting of a teenager girl. Fear not, mommy sick mode is saved only for those illnesses with a duration longer than your average ear infection, strep throat or vomiting in the middle of the night illness. There are other lists for those types of illnesses.

But truly, this should be easy...I'm a stay home mom after all. What else do I have to do?

Now, why I am grateful...
I have money to buy medicine. I have money to buy a variety of foods to try on the sick ones. I don't have to miss a week and a half of work to care for sick ones. I have a big enough bed for all the sickies when snuggle time is a necessity in the middle of the night. I know they WILL get better. This is a virus not a life threatening disease. I have toys, video games and books galore to entertain them. It is not Thanksgiving day. My husband will come home and tell me that I am awesome. The teenage daughter still comes home from school and gives me a big hug and tells me that she loves me. Life is good.

Conversations over Halo

My boys just started playing Halo--the old one, with aliens. They love it, I love their conversations.

J: I have to go to the bathroom. N: ok (J returns) N: I had to kill you. I needed your gun. J: See what happens when a guy takes care of his business! Jeesh!

N: Follow my orders and you won't die. J: You are ONLY the boss of me in this game.

N: Come to where my bombs are and stay put. J: Can I fire at the bad guys? N: Yeah just don't die.

N: Mom do you see how diligently I am working? Me: Yes, good job getting those aliens. J: Mom, I'm what Nathan said too. Me: Good job bud.

To Be Continued...the soldiers are in the tub.

Happy Boo Boo

Humor in adversity is a hard concept to teach. I might even go so far as to say that it is unteachable. You either have it or you don't. The people who inherently know how to turn something difficult into something funny are happier. They get along better with others. I have a child who does this and I wasn't aware of how well she does this, until last night. It was the homecoming dance for her high school. She is a freshman and, as your average freshman would tell you, nerves can be a factor when you are the newbie going to your first big dance. Her dress--beautiful, make up--just right, hair style--fashionable and pinky toe--bleeding profusely. We put pressure on it, taped it, bandaged it and it just kept bleeding. She was invited to a neighbor friend's house for dinner and pictures beforehand. She was very late due to this bleeding toe. We finally bandaged it as tightly as we could and headed over. Sure enough, bled right through. This has been an hour of bleeding people--enough already! Thankfully these are close friends and weren't too squeamish about propping her foot up and rebandaging it. It was bleeding as if it had first happened.

After 15 minutes of more pressure and knowing that it was only 20 minutes until the dance started, I saw it start to happen. Her eyes were tearing up and she said, "It's ok mom, I can just stay home. I don't mind." This kid was going to the dance if I had to cauterize the stupid toe myself! I looked at her and said, "Bek now is the time you pray. Ask for God to help us find a way to fix that little toe so that you can go." I don't know what she said inside that gorgeous head of hers but she did look away for a minute or two. I sprayed this new stuff on it--liquid bandage and the bleeding stopped. I wrapped it tightly with gauze, bandages and tape. It was huge but it wasn't bleeding. Of course her shoes were sandals and that pinky toe was hard to miss.

This 14 year old freshman smiled, drew a happy face on her toe with sharpie and named it "Happy Boo Boo". She said, "Mom, next year everyone is going to want one." She went to that dance with her head held high and came home smiling, laughing and glowing. She had a blast.

Her humor in adversity is making her a very happy person. You rock Bekkah.

Signs of Fall

Yes fall is in the air. Pumpkins and mums are showing up at grocery stores, bugs are sneaking indoors to get away from chilly nights, leaves are starting to change, football is on after church on Sunday AND, the nebulizer is out of storage. Fall brings school, which brings germs, which brings out my little guy's nebulizer. Breathing is not optional. I hate the wheeze. He gets this look, other moms of RAD kids would know it. It's a little pale, a little dark under the eyes, a little noise that goes along with that deep breath. As much as I hate that nebulizer, I love it. It kept my little guy going during his bout with pneumonia, it kept him going when he coughed until he gagged and choked. Fall you are beautiful and so are you mister nebulizer--let's get the little guy through another season.

Going, going, gone!

We had quite the football weekend last weekend.

It started in Elkridge at 7:30am with Nathan's team winning 20-0. Talk about fun to watch! All those young guys really learning how to play the game--it just clicked. They played again the next day and won that game 14-0. I am not sure how many more times Nathan will be able to say that my team won two shut out games in one weekend. Talk about a self confidence booster. Nathan was ecstatic!

We then moved on to Bowie for Josh's game. Our little guys were just that, little. They were, by far, smaller than the other team. Some of them can barely keep their head up with that huge helmet on, I think they look like lollipops running around out there. The kids love playing and being in their gear. Our coaches are really great with them, patient, teaching, encouraging--just what coaches of 5-6 year olds should be. The coaches of the other team were your stereotypical loud, obnoxious over the top coaches. They have forgotten that most of these kiddos have been on our planet for 5 fingers--only the fingers on one hand. Well, 3 touchdowns from them later, I was afraid our kids would be getting discouraged. They put Josh in as the quarterback and he did the quarterback sneak. He kept the ball and ran 40 yards for a touchdown. I really can't tell you from a mom's perspective how I felt to actually watch my child do that. I forgot about the huge camera around my neck, started jumping up and down, screaming and running down the sidelines. Are my eyes really seeing this? Josh made the first touch down of the first game of the first season that this team exists. I don't care if the other team made a gazillion touchdowns. Josh made one and that was more than enough for me!

I am now hoarse yet incredibly happy for my guys. Now on to watch my girl play some volleyball. Go Bears!