Prayers (Please!)

Do you ever think you have big problems, lotsa stuff to do, things to solve, places to be, kids to untangle, blood sugars to track, or just not enough sleep?  Well, I do too.  But.  Meri isn't so blessed with the regular problems like you and I have today (..ok, she has those PLUS).  She's waging an intense battle with her husband's cancer right now.  Can you even imagine?  I've tried to over and over again.  It keeps me in the here and now..praying for Meri and Ryan.  All day, my thoughts (and prayers) come back to them.
Take a minute and go visit, Meri is an amazing mom who balances four great boys (three with diabetes!) with grace and a great sense of humor.  Here's her blog: ourdiabeticlife.com  Please, please add them to your prayer requests, they could use a miracle!  We love you, Meri!!

Crabs, Carbs, and Cards

I miss you!  I have been gone too long, and I have been a wee bit busy.  'Cause I have these sweet kids, ya'll.  I feel kinda like Carol Brady.  Except without Alice. You know when Kitty Karry-All turns up missing?  And then Bobby's kazoo is MIA?  And everyone sides and then you have to hold court to determine who started all the trouble?  Yeah, I know.  You have NO idea what I'm talking about.  'Cause your house is all calm and nice.  Well..summer came to a close, so now school is keeping our little Cindy and Bobbys busy.  heehee ; )

So.  Vacation now is like a kazillion times different with four.  Especially with a four month old on a plane.  With an hour wait on the tarmac.  Some crying in the air, and sweaty pits from stressing over what everyone else is thinking about you and your big family and your crazy plan to take all those kids on a trip.  Well, I can tell you it's a massive undertaking.  But..it was totally worth it.  I promise.  Not just the trip to the National Sports Collectors' Convention in Baltimore or the cheesecake that blew the day's carb limit to the moon (and back), or the days in the sand and shore with the family, or the ferry ride out to the Statue of Liberty, or the crazy separate shuttles to the hotel since we (and our luggage) didn't all fit in one..but even the mornings at the hotel breakfast and the silly days in the beach house shower.  Just what we needed..to be in even closer quarters for a while to make us appreciate our home (and separate bedrooms and beds!).

I could entertain you for days with all the craziness, but I'll try to keep a few things to myself.  ..You're Welcome! : )  Suffice it to say that I love my family, the rocks they sneak back home, the mountains of laundry, the piles of sand in the rental van (it's a ReNTaL! hahahaha), and the room keys we are still finding..

--Ok, I have to tell the truth.  I tried to narrow it down to five or six pictures, but it appears that I'm physically incapable.  I may just have to work on it for a few days. ; )  If you are a relative, you'll be patient with me.  ..and if not?  You can come back in a month and it'll all be over!  'Cause we've got the back to school bash, the first day of school, and so much growing baby.  And have I even told you Ethan lost two teeth?  Is that even possible at FiVe?  I'm thinking so..since there are two half-grown in already!!

K..here's the beginning of the onslaught. ; )  Get yourself a drink, and enjoy some of our memories..I'll start with our day in Baltimore with crabs, jellyfish, ships, a big rain, a few too many carbs, and some cards:

We started our trip in DC, then drove to Baltimore for the Baseball Card Convention..this is at the Inner Harbor.  Checking out an old cannon and what it could shoot!

Check this out.  Massive.

Only four could fit on the paddle boats, so Carter and I paddled our way to the air conditioning.  I think it was only a hundred humid degrees.  And the coldest air just happened to be in front of the Cheesecake Factory.

'Cause we like the air cold.  And our cheesecake chocolate. ; )

He's fast.

She's enjoying every savory morsel of her Reese's cheesecake.  She began with the peanut butter fluff on top.  FYI: this is 167 grams of delicious carbs.  Yes, it's a DAY'S worth of carbs for her!  Good thing she only ate half.

And then..the Convention began!  This is Honus Wagner's bat.  The one he touched.  Clay was in love.  He spent $88 *of his own money!* on baseball cards, and could've stayed till bedtime.

 The Convention was huge.  There were baseball cards, and they there were original jerseys/equipment, players signing, companies giving away freebies (we got three Upper Deck shirts!  Do you need one?), and we got to stand in line for redemptions (some mini cards for those new wrapper trade-ins.  I was incredibly reluctant to go..but it was fun to watch my boys with twinkling eyes.  That's kinda what vacation is for. : )

And tomorrow? (or when I get another ten minutes..)  The Beach!

oh, I left someone out of the pictures!  ..he's even wearing a crab ; )

Little Workers

Sometimes I come here, and just have guilt.  Well, maybe it's just that I have one more thing to keep up, and I'm not doing such a hot job.  I now have four kids and diabetes turned eight this year!  I have to get this redesigned.  I'll add it to my things to do... along with changing out the kids' old pictures, updating my prayer list..  Ha!  This all comes after cleaning their undies, making dinner, and making sure their teeth are brushed. ; )  Oh, and having a meaningful conversation with their daddy that lasts more than five minutes, and doesn't only involve their names! : )

We've survived the surgery, and Carter went back for a post-op appointment on Friday.  He's healing well, and we don't go back for a month.  He'll be dismissed after that as long as everything looks good at that point.  He got to go back to tub baths again, thank goodness!  And, I seriously have to say that he's really doing better.  I don't know if we crossed some critical time barrier or if it was the hernia, but he has a much better attitude/disposition.  He can now just SiT with us, and be o-k-a-y.  No shushing, jiggling, walking, patting him.  He's just content (and maybe out of pain?!).  It's really fun to be around him now!  He just smiles, and babbles, and today he laughed-twice!  Precious.  This is how babies should be. : )

I took Mary Claire (just the two of us!) to get some school clothes today.  She was so excited!  And...she'll be the turquoise girl this year.  She's been dying to get these new shoes that are all the rage here (Tom's), and we got her some turquoise glitter ones.  She's saving them for school (per our agreement) ; ) but had to get lots of things to go with them!  I think she only got one outfit that wasn't turquoise.  What happened to pink?
This was the first year I've let her pick out her clothes.  Well, she's been shopping with me before, but this time she chose what to try on.  Normally, I just bring home clothes and she tells me if she'll wear them or not, and rarely objects to anything!  But, she's getting older and her body is changing, and I wanted her to try some jeans on for a better fit.  I can't believe she's ten.  This is my girl I still remember rocking to sleep.  Time sure flies.

She's asking to carry a purse.  Separate from the purse for her meter.  I'm not sure how to deal with it.  I mean, she has lots of little purses (basically ones she used to have her meter in-like little glittery, sequined ones), but do I have her combine her meter with her "Girl Stuff" or let her carry two separate bags?  I'm just not sure.  She didn't want to combine her little Vera Bradley meter purse with her girly stuff, but who wants to carry two purses?  And school is getting ready to start, so we have to get it figured out.  She's not just carrying lip gloss and a note pad anymore in there anymore. ; )  Ideas?

We decided not to just give the kids Trip Money (for our summer vacation to the shore) this year.  We told them they'd have to earn the money they wanted to spend.  And..it's kinda worked out.  We have a long list of chores/jobs they can do (like skimming the pool, unloading the dishwasher, helping Ethan practice writing his letters, folding laundry, etc.) and the pay for each job.  Let me just say that Ches is really generous, and I'm cheap.  I foresaw the future of my enterprising kids, and apparently..so did they!  We agreed on prices together (like .50 for taking out the recycling or .25 for setting the table...we paid less for jobs they like and more for the drudgery).  Then we used a huge white board with their names, and they keep a tally each day of what they've done.  In the first day, Clay earned over $21.00-I knew they were opportunists!
Mary Claire is very intelligent too.  She decided what she wanted from American Girl, made a list, added it up, and divided by the number of days till our trip.  She figured out that she had to make about $5.50/day to get what she wanted.  No reason to overwork. ; )  Ethan isn't too terribly motivated, he earns about $1-2 a day.  Not bad, but certainly not ambitious.  He'll figure it out when we don't just buy him stuff this year.  I guess we teach the hard way. ; )  Only 'cause we love them.


I should go-getting to bed at one a.m. isn't doing me any favors!  Hope you are having a great summer..and your kids are helping you.  (but maybe you shouldn't implement a pay-as-you-go chart.  Just sayin'.)

Baby Surgery

I tell you what.  I have the best friends.  Need some help?  Just holler!  Need a prayer warrior on your side?  I got 'em!  That has to be my absolute favorite thing about my girls.  They got my back.  I am rolling along in prayer-I know only God could have helped me through last night and today.  Really.

It happened kinda fast...but Carter had his surgery today!  If you aren't caught up (heck-I'm not!), he had an inguinal hernia (intestine poking out his abdominal wall down low, just above his privates) (we're a family blog, ya'll!) Anywho, we saw a surgeon on Wednesday, and he scheduled us for today.  That's service. ; )

I was sailing along just fine until last night.  I just lost it.  It all became so overwhelming.  I was packing my suitcase (we were supposed to be there at 5:30am, surgery at 7:30am) since we had to spend tonight so he could be observed for 24 hours after anesthesia, and I just started stressing.  Packing for me, packing for him, worrying about the other kids.  My mom had an MRI at ten this morning, so she was busy herself, and I just could not ask my friends for help.  I am crippled that way.  Well..I called a couple babysitters (somehow I can justify asking someone to be at my house at 5:15am if I can pay them), but they were busy.

We'd decided to just have Ches stay home with the kids, and I'd take him alone.  At 5:15am.  With me full of milk, and him starving.  Oh, did I mention I couldn't feed him after midnight?  Yeah, that too.  (Required Ches driving all over NW Arkansas after 10 last night looking for the holy grail of breast pumps...me and my fancy electric Medela just don't tango anymore...)  So..I called Courtney and she listened to Irrational Me (she's patient like that), and worked through some scenarios.. and ended with her telling me how she really could handle her five kids (while her husband was working!) and my three.  And I believed her, since she tells the truth. ; )

So..I did what I could handle.  We got them ready for bed, jammied, teeth brushed, etc. and Ches took them over there a little before ten.  I didn't want them to get in the way, but what did she do?  Let them do crafts and play and have fun!  I expected quick bed, but she wanted them to have some fun. ; )  She worried and prayed over my babies, and even let Ethan sleep next to her since he got up in the night (like he does here..).  I felt bad and thankful and overwhelmed (again!) and good all at the same time.  Ever have someone worry and love your kids like you do?  It's a happy feeling. : )

They were fine, and Ches picked them up when we heard Carter was out of surgery and had been moved to recovery (Safe!).  They were worried about Carter, and they couldn't wait to see him either.  I was just thankful Ches got to go with me this morning-it was hard with all the crying.  Carter woke up about 4:20, hungry.  Ches went to get him and gave him a paci.  Not quite, he said.  He was mad, and cried for over an hour.  When we finally got on the highway to the hospital, he fell asleep and slept till we got to the there.  Then mellowed for an hour or so.  He must have been exhausted, and had no fuel for his fire.  (Come to find out he was dehydrated, and he had repeated pokes to get an i.v.-thanks doctors for the No Food After Midnight rule!)  But he even laid on the bed and wasn't mad.  I knew it was prayer carrying us-this was odd for him.  He doesn't even like to lay down.  Period.  Angels were holding him probably.  Or singing Amazing Grace, the kind his momma really needed.  ; )

Then we had to change him into the way-big hospital gown:

It was so huge.  I didn't even tie it.  He was covered in cartoony tigers.  Just like Ethan was a couple weeks ago!

The doctor came in and drew a check mark on the side he planned to repair (apparently it's a law now?), then after more carrying/holding, they came to get him.  It was harder than even I anticipated it would be.  Yeah, that's hard!  To give your baby away..well you know.

We waited..and waited.  They assign each patient a random number, and you watch the computer screens for updates on your family member (number).  We saw when the surgery began, and they posted the ending time about 20 minutes late, but at least we knew he was out, and okay.  Soon, the doctor came out and told us he did fine, and was doing lots of healthy screaming.  He was so calm.  I asked if someone was holding my screaming baby trying to comfort him, and when could I go hold him??  He said it'd be another 30 minutes or so.  Agony.  It turned out to be only about 10 minutes.  Either they'd had enough, or he always overestimates.  (Like him saying we'd have to spend Friday night, but then he said we could GO HOME!!)

We decided we really liked him.  He was super calm, and he asked if he could pray with us before surgery.  A really good prayer.  I can't remember it, but the Holy Spirit was speaking to me and comforting me, and it made me have confidence in this man that was about to see inside my baby.  Places only God had seen.

And then Ches went to get the kids, and I went to hold my baby.  My screaming baby that would not eat.  I thought he'd be ravenous, but no.  No momma milk.  He just wanted to be held and rocked..and sleep.  He never did eat, but they let us go anyway.  So today he slept all day (till about 6:30pm, with bouts of crying and little bits of milk in between).  He finally took some Tylenol about 6:30, and ate well twice.  He's now in bed..maybe for the night?

Since I haven't slept in two days, I'm going to sleep when he sleeps. ; )  Hope your babies are well, and home, and eating well.  Sometimes we take those for granted!  It's these times I remember to be thankful for the little things.  Like my own bed.  And dinner with my family tonight. Even if it was at 8:30. : )  Hugs!

Peaceful sleep..precious.  G'night, ya'll!