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Bottom Line... MERCY IS DOING GREAT!!! She is developing well this last month. Two months ago she seemed to be regressing. Since then she has dropped the prednisone dosage from 10 mg. a day to 2 mg a day. She is now walking, and starting to babble and try to talk. She is really doing wonderfully. It does my Mama heart good to see her playing outside and helping to do "normal" things like helping to throw diapers away, etc. Here are a few cute photos while I am at it...
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So we were in Lowe's the other day. And, being 6.5 months pregnant I had to go to the bathroom, of course. She said, "That happens when you have THREE children." Quite smugly. I THOUGHT "I have THREE TIMES the number of children you have... " but I didn't say it. On occasion I have control of my tongue. Don't expect so much if you ask me if I know what causes "that". Like a precious life is "That". In that case, I say "Yes, and we're quite good." My husband adds, "Want any pointers?" But I'm not that brave. |
As I walk in, I see a diaper fly through the air and sink into the garbage. As I went in further, I could see the lady who made the basket, and said, "Nice Shot!" with a smile. 
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I had so much fun the last time I did a giveaway, that I am ready to do it again! This time the lucky winner can choose either a medly of springtime home made goats milk soaps and lotions, or the 5 Book Series "Song of the Silent Harp" by B.J. Hoff. There will be TWO winners, so sign up quickly!!! To read about the Song of the Silent Harp Books, go to http://www.amazon.com/Song-Silent-Harp-Emerald-Ballad/dp/1556611102/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product . The soaps could look like this: http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc283/petersonclan/Lemonsmall.jpg or this: http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc283/petersonclan/HeatherSmall.jpg depending on what's available on Friday. You will be put in an extra drawing to win soaps if you read through my blog and let me know either what you think is the funniest story, or what entry made you think the most. ;) Happy surfing and good luck on the giveaways! |
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True conversation this morning... Eric - As he took the cell phone with him - "Mama's gonna say, 'Thanks for callin' me on the telephone!" The girls (singing with a twang) - "I've got some money in my pocket, going Jing-a-ling-a-ling. I'm gonna call you on the telephone. I'm gonna give you a ring!" Eric - "What would you say if some guy ever told you that?" Anna - I'd say [Singing] "No hugging, no kissing, 'Til you make me your wife!" Eric - But what if someone said, [Singing] "My honey, my baby, don't put my love on a shelf." Anna - "You'd better talk to my Dad!" We thought that was funny. Yes, I cannot believe my husband has taught that song to my little sweet girls, but what can I say?! At least they know the young man better talk to Eric! Here are a couple photos from the wedding we went to the other week...
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With the costs of gas and food rising so quickly, I have been needing to keep much more careful track of where our money is going. In our pre-child days (or I should say, in our pre lots of children days), we used only cash and used the envelope system. Since then, it has just been too hard to keep it all straight with our checks and debit card. Another difficult thing is Wal Mart and other Super Stores... too many categories were used on the same transaction. I was looking for a way to do "envelopes" within my checking account. That way, if we did not spend the whole school amount each month, we could build it up and I could not feel guilty when I needed $500 for school books at the beginning of the year. Or whatever. I tried online money programs. I tried all sorts of things. Nothing worked, until I found The Budget Map Check Register . What this does is add categories in your check register to keep track of how much is in each category. So when I go to Stuff Mart I can easily divide the money spent between the categories... $20 for clothing, $15 for the cars, $100 for food (I should be so lucky to only spend that much for food)... etc. Check it out!!! It's wonderful. |
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So... if you throw up while ACTUALLY IN THE SHOWER, is it possible to get dehydrated? I'm just wondering. |
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Although my dear friend Amy, the Humble Muse (see my sidebar), would disagree with me (and I'll still love her to death... maybe she'll like this guy when she moves here), I have found reason #952 to not have a Male OB. My conversation went like this: "Could you please give me a refill on the Zofran?" "You are not dehydrated, and you are gaining weight, so let's not do the Zofran any more." I have gained all of 8 pounds in 6 months. This is the same guy who missed catching Mercy because he went down the hall to get a newspaper. I'll call the midwife on Tuesday. She'll help me out. |
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This week, instead of school, we are catching up on spring cleaning and organizing. Before I lose my mind in the clutter. I have divided my rooms up into jobs the children can earn money by finishing them... $0.50 a job. $0.25 for the missionary giving, and $0.25 for them to keep and spend. By the end of today I hope to have gone through the bookshelves and clothes, and the children will have (hopefully) deep cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms. I'll let you know how it goes. They are currently singing a little ditty to the "Gingerbread Man" song from the story... Cleaning style! "Scrub, Scrub, As fast as you can! You can't get me I'm the mark on the wall!" Have a great day! |
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Once again we had mixed at the Doctor this past week. Everything seems to be tempered with, "But she looks great so let's just wait and see..." - Ophthalmology- We need to have glasses within the next 6 months. Unfortunately, we are going to have problems finding ones to fit over the hemangioma. Prayers for creative thinking would be appreciated! - Neurology and Radiology and the Hemangioma people looked at the MRI done last month... They found that the Chiari Malformation is very small, and I got the impression that we would watch it, but they don't expect that there will be many issues from it. The neurologist did say that she shouldn't play tackle football. Other good news is that there are no actual arterial anomalies which could have been present ... this means there is no increased risk of stroke. That is good! Unfortunately we did find out that there are several hemangioma's in the brain. As long as they do not grow, it seems things will be fine. So pray there is no additional growth!!! That is the short version - sorry it took me so long to update, but it is a very long trip with lots of waiting time in doctor's offices. It takes a few days to recover from that! Hope you all have a good weekend. We are going to a wedding. Angela is playing the music. It will be beautiful... the bride and groom with share their first kiss when they are pronounced "Man and Wife"! |
Posted in Mercy Medical
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Yesterday was Mercy's day to have her Bronchoscopy... it was a long day, but the Dr. saw NOTHING unusual with her throat. Praise God!!! He also did a laser surgery while she was sedated. There are NO airway issues! I went up and back yesterday, so was exhausted. But it was good to sleep in my own bed. This coming week we have my parents coming. We will be roofing the porch, and other assorted things, depending on the weather. I take Mercy back up to Cincinnati on Monday evening, and have to stay until Wednesday. I see the Neurologist, and hemangioma dr., and the ophthalmologist. I'll try to get updated photos up soon. We have some adorable ones of Mercy, and Josiah had a birthday, so expect a day of just photos soon! May you have a blessed day tomorrow as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior!!! |
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This came across a Large Family Mothering blog I read... I thought it was wonderfully encouraging this morning. ( http://www.breedzing.com/?p=205 ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you need a lift today? If there’s one thing I know, I can’t rely on myself or my own way of thinking. I seem to get into grooves that end in negativity and destruction. The only life I can live in this earth is one where I am on my knees, with my nose in The Book! Some folks have accused my over the years of having a large family just because I am “more patient” or “more organized” or I am some sort of saint! The truth be known, I have so many children because God knew many things about me that I did not know, and He knew that He could 1) use me as I surrendered, and 2) use my kids to help me to surrender. As a young person I took great pride in the fact that I was a “capable” person. Thank God He didn’t leave me in the disgusting, self-admiring state! Every year and every child has brought me more to the realization that I don’t want to be capable, I don’t want to be “independent”, I don’t want to be strong. I want Jesus to be all, and in all. There are so many of us that embark on what we perceive to be a God-ly journey, only to find out that we were just trying to conform to some expectation of what being “good” looks like. But being good isn’t enough. We can’t be good enough. We can’t parent or homeschool or mother well enough to meet the needs or expectations of either God or those around us. It comes down to the heart. Why am I doing what I am doing? Is it because I want others to think I am righteous? Is it because I am trying to win a little bit of noteriety, even among my circle of friends? Is it because I like being strange? (I really do like being strange, sometimes) Or is it because I have died with Christ, and even if He took away my husband, all of my children, my church, etc., and dropped me in the middle of the darkest part of Europe (this is the continent that needs Jesus now), would I still praise Him? Could I say with all of my heart, “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord”? And so we come to the paradox of the Gospel, as Jesus told us that in order to find our lives we must die. This is where the encouragement for today comes from–in the death of myself and the life of God. I leave you with the words of St. Francis of Assisi: Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
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This came across a blog I read regularly... wow - what a wonderful chance to win a great language program!!! Angela is about to finish Spanish Level 1 ... we will need to buy the next two years soon. Poor Eric - he is devastated that she is ahead of him in Spanish studies. A little good natured competition is good for the learning around here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!
This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian. This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.
To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff! |
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With my first child I was a great mom. I left all the cleaners, etc. under the counter and just trained him to not touch what he wasn't supposed to. I was amazing. After child #8, with the last 3 in 3 years, and homeschooling 5 of them, I have resorted to trying to keep everything out of their reach. At least the stuff which would kill them. But Nathan could climb like a monkey, and Mercy just gets into everything anyway. Finally, out of desperation, we needed to latch under the sink and also our cabinet which holds our DVDs under the TV. Those child proof things are expesive, even at Wal Mart, so here's what we did. We took those linking things... you know - the ones which you can string toys onto the carseats with? We took two of them and connected them to the handles. Cheap, easy, and the under 4 crowd cannot open them up. Hope someone can use this info! |
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I woke up this morning very tired. Last night I stayed up late to talk to some really special guy who didn't get home from work until 10. I was thinking I maybe should just try to get a morning nap and salvage the rest of the day. And I might still do that. BUT I just needed to share the most wonderful surprise I found waiting for me in my inbox this morning. Many years ago we lived in Okinawa, Japan. While there , I taught English to a wonderful group of women. We became such good friends! I have been sad ever since we moved 7 years ago because I lost track of these beautiful friends. WELL! Today we heard from one of them! Asayo and her son Kai e-mailed to wish Josiah a happy birthday! God has blessed me with several friends who have recently gotten back in contact with us. Christa, Claire, Kristen, and Asayo- you have no idea how much that has meant to me. So instead of a nap I am off to correct school and be sure to try to enjoy the day. It is spring for sure. Maybe I'll start those seeds which have sitting on the counter waiting for me to do. We have had a very busy week- there were three speeches due within a one week time frame! The first was a 4-H speech contest. Angela won champion, and Josiah won Reserve Champion. Then on Thursday we had a Geography night with the homeschool group. We did a presentation on Japan. Then yesterday we had 4-H Demonstration speeches and Josiah won champion. I am glad the speeches are done for a while. We will have the Variety Show next month, then the Area Competition for Champions in May. And Nate pooped in the toilet three times yesterday. It's amazing what the incentive of a starburst for both HIM and the person taking him to the toilet will accomplish... bribery is a great thing on occaision. |
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Two posts in one day... must be a miracle. But I just HAD to tell you about our expirament we did today. I had heard that you can tell the sex of a baby by the "Draino Test"... so we thought we would try it. I took two jars, and went to the bathroom in one of them. We took them outside so there was no issue with fumes, and in the empty jar I poured about an inch of draino. We put about an inch of urine in it. No fizzing, although the color of the urine went clear. There was still some uncontaminated urine in the other jar, so we poured some draino in that one. It fizzed! Then as we watched, the first jar fizzed a little. I figured the test was faulty. The children figured we're having twins - one boy, one girl. I think it would be a great science fair expirament! Anyone want to suggest names?! Eric said you know we are Redneck Homeschoolers when we talk about blonde chicks and are talking about livestock. Anyone else have others Redneck Homeschooler jokes? |
Evidently, if you add urine to draino, and it fizzes you have a boy. Nothing, and you have a girl.|
Thank you everyone, for your patience in waiting to hear what's going on with Mercy. She had her tests done on a Wednesday. It seems she picked up a flu bug while there. By Thursday night she was throwing up, and by Saturday the rest of us started dropping like flies. On Sunday 9 out of the 10 of us were down. So you'll excuse me for not updating sooner! On Saturday, before anyone else started getting sick, we picked up 36 baby chicks for this year's egglayers. Any roosters will be eaten. With eggs being $2 a dozen these guys are really making their feathery selves useful. On Tuesday I took Mercy to Cincinnati to see a Hemangioma Doctor. I'll tell about that in a minute. We come home on Wednesday and then had company arrive Thursday! This was a "working" vacation - the guys worked the whole time. The girls and kids were going to have some fun, but unfortunately, we gave them the flu bug, and the kids spent much of the time throwing up too. The guys did get a lot done... we were re-doing an old shingle roof which was leaking. We got the worste part done on Thursday. Then they went to work doing lots of electrical work - adding lights and fans to the bathroom, track lights to the back of the kitchen, and a lights in our closet and laundry room. We were going to add track lights in our bedroom, but it was going to be more difficult than we had the time for. They went home (sick) on Sunday. I felt bad we passed on the flu, but am glad our home is so much more illuminated, and no longer leaking! In two weeks my parents are coming, and if the weather holds we will do the other (more complicated) roof that has shingles. We are putting red metal up... it will be nice when we can get the whole thing done! Now on to Mercy's test results... what the Hemangioma specialist was specifically screening for was PHACES ( http://www.phacesassociation.com/ ). This is an association of other difficulties which can come when children have a large facial hemangioma. This should have been screened for automatically, but the doctors we were seeing in Louisville did not do it. Anyway- the MRI was to scan for vascular problems in the brain, and to check for problems with the "posterior fossa" - the back of the skull where the spinal chord enters. It showed that Mercy does have trouble with the posterior fossa, specifically a "Chiari 1 Malformation" - http://www.conquerchiari.org/index.htm . It is very possible she will not have any problems in the future from it, but even HAVING it puts her in the category of PHACES. We were shocked after being told for an entire year that she does not have these. Last Tuesday we went to see Dr. Denise Adams in Cincinnati Children's Hospital. It was such a wonderful experience!!! Except for Mercy realizing that this was a doctor's office and crying for the first 45 minutes! Yikes! But I got her calmed down, and she did fine the rest of the afternoon. Dr. Adams has assembled a group of doctors with the specialties we will need to help give a more comprehensive treatment plan to children with hemangiomas. In Mercy's case, we need to have a neurologist, dermatologist, ENT, ophthalmologist, oculoplast, etc. ALL THESE are together in the same place and able to discuss Mercy's case in person. That was not ever done in Louisville. I was so impressed with the whole thing that we are moving her care up to Cincinnati. Although it will be an overnight trip each month or so, it will be well worth it to have the care she can be offered up there. We saw the ENT surgeon, who will also be doing the surgeries with the laser and to de-bulk the hemangioma on the face... he believes he can have her face looking "normal" (not that that is our main issue, but still it is a desire!) by the time she is 3! That would be so wonderful. I will be so glad to have her never remember all this. Oh- the cardiac ultrasound showed that there is some strain to the heart as it is trying to pump extra blood to the left side of the face. It is slightly enlarged on the left side, but that is expected to reduce when the blood supply is no longer needed. So that is where we stand... good and bad, but I think it will be a long term benefit to make the extra trip to Ohio every month. Thanks for your prayers. You have no idea how they have encouraged me during this time.
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I took Mercy to Louisville yesterday for an MRI/ MRA/ and echocardiogram. All went well... I have not received the results yet, but will let you all know when I do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The other night I was sending children to bed, and I hear Josiah's voice telling Nate a story. I did not hear the whole thing, but I did hear the final line... "So Boots and Dora died. The End." The boys slept peacefully. I, however, had nightmares. |
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Well- I HAD blogged it before, but evidently cyberspace was hungry and ate the entry! Anyway- there is a great new network for homeschool Mamas called The Homeschool Lounge ( http://www.thehomeschoollounge.com ) where you can join with lots of other homeschool families and find some new (and some old) friends. There are lots of new groups you can join. The one I am the most excited about is the one to buy and sell used curriculum. I have a lot of things which we just don't use any more, and I'd like to free up some shelf space. So head on over, and look me up over there! I'm petersonclan, as always. :) Also- Tiany is having a contest to win a gift card if you promote the site on your own blog. So go for it! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Tiany/480542/
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Good afternoon, all. We are on day 8 of the cold/ fever flu bug around here. Most are sniffling and hacking and somewhere in the before- during- after continuum, with only a couple not sniffing at all. It seems to have one person fall to the fever every three days... at this point the plague will leave the building in a month. As for now, though, it is really nice to spend quieter days at home. I think it really rates re-considering the activities which have us running around on a normal basis, as we have gotten school done every day this week and had some extra time for fun and games. With six schoolage children and two toddlers (and being pregnant) sometimes it seems that all we do is school! On to my title... I have recently joined a quiverful blogroll. Being quiverfull is a fancy name for a pretty simple concept. We believe in letting God control the size of our family. We believe the Bible teaches that children are a blessing, and we should not deny God the ability to bless us how He sees fit. I mean, really, if God were blessing us with tons of money, would we ask him to stop because we have too much? No thanks, God, I'm having trouble controling the bank accounts of what I have already... please stop sending the cash flow my way. Of course not. That's ridiculous. Yet that is exactly what many people do each and every day. Of course, it means being content if God doesn't send more our way, too. I have friends who don't use birth control either, and only have one or two children. So it is not a definite that you will have dozens of children if you trust God with your family size. And really- isn't it all about trusting God? Do I trust Him enough to know that He knows what is good for me? That he is not out to punish me with these children, but to bless me? When this baby is born I will have 2 under 2, 3 three and under, 4 four and under, 5 six and under, and 6 eight and under. It makes me tired to just think of it! Is it an easy task? Nope. Not at all. It's hard to be pregnant so much. It takes hard work to train them in righteousness (for I then need to be trained in the same thing... there is no "do as I say and not as I do" in developing the characters of these children). It takes hard work to teach them, to get the house in decent order (it's never even close to perfect), and to feed them, along with being a good wife to Eric. Sometimes I feel like a balloon ready to burst... just stretched too thin. Sometimes I hate the pressure of how everyone watches us due to the large size. I hate having people think I have it all together when I know how often I really fail. The Bible says that we will be saved in childbearing... I don't think that it is actual salvation. For that only comes through believing in Jesus. My personal take on it, and I am not a theologian so I could be wrong, is that my large homeschooling family keeps me way to busy to get into trouble meddling in other people's affairs. For I surely am busy from sunup to sundown, and many times in between. It takes a daily laying down of my life and desires, and putting on the service, humility, and desires of Christ to do what I am called to do. Yet I wouldn't trade it for the world. A friend of mine recently sent me a link for maternity t-shirts... the sayings were so funny - have fun browsing... I love the one which asks if this baby makes me look fat. And I'd love to get the one which points an arrow to the baby and says, "Product of a United States Marine". But alas, they are for the young, skinny pregnant ladies, and I am no longer that. So enjoy browsing! http://www.cafepress.com/buy/maternity . And I know I may have pressed some buttons with this topic. If you have nice, considerate comments (you are allowed to disagree- just be polite!), I will gladly accept comments and questions. Fire away!
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Recently my husband and daughter were preparing to go with our church to the jungles of Ecuador for a week. The only boots Eric had were cracked in the sole, and I was uncomfortable sending him to the jungle with boots which may fall apart before the week was done. So he went to Stuff Mart and bought a pair of waterproof hiking boots. Unfortunately, the left one was just a tad too tight once he got them home and tried to break them in. That would not work while hiking into the deep jungle, either. So I remembered reading something in Tightwad Gazette #3 - We put a ziplock bag inside the boot and put some water in it. Then put it in the freezer. After it was frozen, took it out and pulled out the bag of ice. It had expanded just enough to stretch the boot and fit him just right! I was so proud of this idea I just had to share it! |