Babies, Brownies and Blessings

Our's is a sick little germ-infested home this week. Pneumonia, sinus infection, fevers. And that's just this week. I'm starting to wonder at the effectiveness of my handwashing... Anyway, I've learned a couple tricks over the years. And just so we're clear, I have my Mom-hat on right now. These are Mom-tricks, not nurse-tricks. Ever tried giving a febrile 3 year old tylenol or ibuprofen during the night? They are groggy, sick, and miserable. And now, you need to shove 5-10ml of fluid down their throat. I realized that for such occasions it's nice to have the infant concentration on hand. It's contains more milligrams of medication per milliliter so you give less. The dropper comes in handy, too, for shoving it between their little lips. So instead of 7.5ml of children's tylenol, I can give 2.5ml. And it'll go in and not come back out again! The other trick I learned has to do with infants. When giving a med (into the side of their...

A friend's Facebook status caused me to have some flashbacks today. Her little guy got into the children's ibuprofen bottle. The Childproof ibuprofen bottle. I think he was just dipping his fingers in when she caught him. I wasn't that lucky. BigBoy #1 is my ibuprofen guzzler and childproof-cover locksmith. On TWO separate occasions he downed half the bottle. Yep, twice. Great parenting, I know. The first time I was in a panic. I was certain he was going to end up with a GI bleed, need his stomach pumped, etc. Poison Control calmed me down. Turns out for his weight (he was a large 2 year old) he could've drank 3/4 of the bottle before it would've been a problem. Give him something to eat to absorb some of the med and watch for puking was the advice given. And, of course, keep the meds out of reach. Great advice and I followed it. Until the next time it happened... We were remodeling the kitchen and nothing was where it belonged. 6 a.m. one morning I hear a little...

The last 10 years have changed us much. Most of the growth has been good. There's a lot of growing up that needs to happen when you marry at 20. In some ways that may have made our journey easier. We matured together and didn't develop too many bad habits pre-marriage. We certainly didn't find our way without help. I thought I'd share a few of the books that have helped us get this far fairly gracefully. And of course, God is the main source for our joy and love over the years. Most of these books both Bri and I read together. A couple of them I read and they changed me tremendously. Maybe one day Bri will check them out, too   although I quit holding my breath a few years ago! :) The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work John Gottman, PH.D. This was one of two books recommended in my Marriage and Family Development class in college. Gottman did a 48 hour study of many couples and watched for 6 signs that the marriage was in tr...

Once again I have several little "blog-able" thoughts running through my head but none of them are particularily exciting in their own right. Onto another hodge-podge, this and that post! Oven and Wires Last week started with a broken oven. And melting wires going into our electrical box. Every time this type of stuff happens I'm so grateful for my husband. He can fix it. Cheaply and correctly. He saves us hundreds of dollars by putting on his electrician hat. Another couple hundred by being my oven technician. I gave him permission to take the $600 we saved and buy me something nice for V-day. Of course, Dave Ramsey wouldn't hear of that since we didn't actually have an extra $600 so I was blessed with a budget that's not screwed up instead of some expensive bauble. That makes me just as happy! The board that needed replacing in the oven. The one at the bottom has a soot stain. That's not supposed to be there, I guess! Claire Claire started clappin...

*Lest you are considering skipping this post due to the last few days of overly-dramatic reactions to life's little challenges, I assure you there is NO whining and fussing this time!* :) Last weekend we spent 48 fun-filled hours with my whole family. They made the 7-8 hour trek from Roseau, Badger, TRF area in 3 vehicles with 7 adults and 5 children under 7. I was delighted to be on the "receiving" end of their presence instead of the "driving and riding" end. The boys woke that morning asking to see their cousins and grandparents. They just couldn't get here quickly enough! "When are my friends going to be here, Mom?" "I bery miss them and can't wait to see them." Finally the caravan arrived and the fun began! It's amazing how quickly everyone settles in with the bigger kids heading downstairs, the little ones up with the family. It's starting to get easier as our kids are growing up a bit. No longer needing th...

Today is the day. WAS the day. The long-awaited ornery-ectomy was to take place for BigBoy #2. This morning he needed it, bad. The fighting, crying and yelling that began as soon as the boys woke just about did me in. But today was going to be the beginning of the end of sickness for BigBoy #2. Out with the tonsils and adenoids, in with the happy, feeling good boy. Those plans were changed. By yogurt. 3 ounces of Dannon Smoothie Strawberry Burst yogurt. BigBoy #2 is a big breakfast eater so I knew it would be a challenge to keep him from eating this morning. He was allowed popsicles and jello, though, so I thought that would be a delight to any little 3 year old. Popsicles for breakfast!! He wanted yogurt. I said no. He said yes. Yada yada. I won the battle for a while. I intercepted an almost intereference when I found him disobediently grabbing a yogurt out of the fridge. We had done our best to explain why this was not an option for him. And he gets popsi...

Tomorrow is the big day. Caleb's Orneryectomy (aka tonsilectomy and adenoidectomy)  will take place early in the afternoon. Bri and I are both feeling a bit apprehensive. It's hard to choose surgery for your child, even if it is the best option and the long-term benefits will be worthwhile. Caleb, on the other hand, is looking forward to it. At 3 he doesn't quite get what's going on but he keeps asking if it's time to go to the hospital yet! We did our best to explain without scaring (and scarring). He won't be able to eat anything in the morning which might be rough. Breakfast is usually first on his list when he wakes. But he can have popsicles and pudding until about 8am so he might think it's his lucky day! There's a chance he'll have to stay the night in the hospital, depends on how well he takes fluids post-op. He's a stubborn one so we may be in for a fight for a few days. We covet your prayers and ask that you'll lift up...