Oh, the joys of motherhood

Is is just me or is just when you think you have the potty-training thing all done, it backfires on you??? I thought we were doing great. Finnely has been going potty really well for a couple of months now but the poopy part only since her b-day. What a good day that was, her b-day, she is feeling all brave she went poop ALL BY HERSELF!!!! (she did ask daddy for help getting Greyson out of the bathroom, that's his favorite room) Ever since her birthday and she finally figured out it is no fun to have poop on your butt, she has gone in the toilet. For whatever reason today, she has decided that she doesn't need to do either in the toilet, instead on the floor. I was smart (for once) to put a pull-up on her after she peed on the computer room floor and I was not in the mood for another accident. Especially since the bathroom is 5 feet anyway, she was just being lazy. This unacceptible for me. Accidents happen, this I completely understand, but to just not go just because. Not happening in my house! Is that wrong?? Anyway, she had the pull-up on maybe a 1/2 hour and she comes to me with no clothes on again. She had pooped, in way, I was crabby at her for not going in the toilet, but on the other hand at least she went in the pull-up right?? No, she didn't like it on so she walked down the steps, and all over the house with poop on her bottom and up her back, with no pull-up in sight. I was not happy! Where was the pull-up, yep you guessed it, on the floor! What is the fascination with letting it go wherever you are at the time?? This is my least favorite part of Motherhood...potty-training. I could change diapers all day (not that I want to) but I could. It's the learning part, I am not patient about. You'd think this being my 3rd child, I would be used to it by now, No, I'm not. It is still frustrating. Anybody got any brilliant ideas, please share!

On a completely different note, I need to share one of my flaws. I hate to clean. I love when the house is clean, it's the actual work, I don't like. I'm lazy, I guess. I'm talking about my room. It is the catch all room, baskets of clean (at least it's clean) laundry, most of it isn't folded just getting more wrinkled by the day. I counted the baskets, 6 baskets. That is crazy. The bathroom (aka unfinished laundry room, someday) floor is covered with dirty clothes. I have procrastinated so long, the pile is HUGE! I can accept my flaw of hating to do laundry but the problem is I am rubbing off on my daughter. Her job today is to clean her room. (I would be happy for a path to walk through) How can I possibly make her to do the same thing, I am avoiding doing myself??? Call me a hypocrite, I know. Why is so hard for accept the same flaw in my daughter, when I taught it to her?

On a somewhat cheerier note, I am excited to go to my parents house in a couple of weeks. They live about 6 hours north of me and I haven't been "home" since Christmas. This is the longest I have been away, ever! We were supposed to go visit a couple of weeks ago, but with the house flipping deadline, we weren't able to go. Now the house is on hold for a little while, (hopefully not very while, anyone needing a house in Wapello?) we have decided it is time for a little vacation. I am so excited!! I have 6 neices and 2 nephews, whom I miss so much. My parents even got us a web cam recently so we will be able to see each other. It is not the same as in person though so I am praying that nothing tramatic happens to derail the trip.

Well, I am off to attempt to get out the fall decorations, not really feeling this year. I guess since it has been 80 degrees outside for the last week , it makes it hard to want to put up pumpkins and scarecrows. Everything is stored in the crawl space that we had water in a couple of weekends ago, so hopefully everything is still in good condition. It is all stored in tubs, but you never know. Ok, enough procrastinating......Later blog world!

For those of you that actually read my blog, leave me a comment, please let me know you stopped to check what is happening in my life!! I would truly appreciate it! Thanks!


I will blog later but my mom duties are calling....it's almost bed time!! YAY!!!

Be back soon......

a little setback

• Well, for those of you that know about the Wapello house that my husband has been working on for 2 years now has had a setback. My husband has been working so diligently for the the couple of months and the last weeks straight. I haven't seen him more than a kiss to say goodnight and a kiss in the morning for the last couple of weeks. He has been pushing himself so much because the deadline for the closing on the house was Sept 30th. As of last night, the buyer's financial backing fell though. Depressing!!!!! Not only for us, because we thought we had it sold, but also for the buyer who has already sold his home and now has nowwhere to go at the end of this month. In a way it is a blessing in disguise, as the house might not have been ready, but on the other side, now we have no buyer and might be sitting on a house for awhile. It least maybe I'll be able to see my husband for more than a minute a day.
  
  
• A little good news about Greyson-

I took Finnely in last week for her tonsil/adenoid removal and tube placement checkup-for which she turned out GREAT! Thank the Lord! As we were getting ready to leave, I mentioned to my Doc that Greyson failed his right side of his hearing test and was referred to IA City to have a ABR test done. I asked about the test and she was concerned, so she asked the nurse to pull his chart and she did the test again, herself! HE PASSED!! Praise the Lord! He is in the normal hearing range for his age and she thinks we should hold off on doing the ABR test. I'm still debating that though, because we have had 2 of the same test with different people administering them and 2 different results. I think I will keep the appt in IA City-just to make sure. I've already meet my deductible for the year, so why not?!?

• One of the things that has been bugging me this week is that when it rains, (as it did all last weekend) our home telephone doesn't work. We have no dial tone, but when someone does call, they get a busy signal. It drives me crazy. When I did finally after months of this, get around to calling to report this have someone come fix it, they replied that they could come today. A week later. So yesterday the phone started working again, the ground must have dried up enough to make the connection, only to have Greyson put the cordless phone in the toilet. So now that the phone connection works, the actual phone is soaked and even after it dried out, doesn't work. The only landline phone that we have now is in the garage, but forgive me, I am just to lazy to run out there everytime it rings. It is usually a political call anyway. If you need to reach me, call my cell phone, it actually works, (Greyson put it in the toilet too, but I caught him just as he did it) I need a lock on that door!

• I am off to tackle the month of laundry that is accumulating on the bathroom floor upstairs. I have about 8 loads, clean, but sitting in baskets, waiting to be folded and put away. The socks though, I don't think will ever get done. They have their own basket, so every morning we have to play match game. There has to be a better solution. I want be able to throw socks away after one wear and get a new one out everyday. Too bad I can't afford that! Socks are my downfall!

• Well the older kids are @ school and Greyson is napping so I am off the tackle Mt Laundry! Wish me luck!!!!!

So I beginning to wonder if there will come a day where everyone in my family is healthy....

Today I took Greyson (my 13th month old) to have a hearing test done, to monitor how he is doing since he had his tubes put in a little over a month ago. I went in thinking nothing of it. Well there was a problem, he only passed one side of the test. His right ear showed a no pass on the test. He then proceded to see the doctor to make sure the tubes were open and working, which they were. The doc explained that most people think as long as you have one ear that can hear that is enough. I am NOT one of those people when it comes to my son, who can't even talk yet. The questions in my mind just kept coming. At first I felt afraid, then in denial, and didn't want to deal with it, but I know I have to. He is my little boy. I know what it is like to only be able to hear on one side. It is frustrating and very difficult. Yes, it can be done but not easily. I lost my hearing when I was little. I had a disease called Cholestatoma that eats away the bones in your ears. I have had 8 surgeries on my right ear and still have an 80% loss. I don't want that for my son. Is that wrong??? I know this is something I can and would have to deal with but I am struggling with it. The doctor gave us a couple of options, wait 3-4 months and take the test again, which could lead to further loss if it isn't as bad a we think or we can go to IA City and have an ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) test. Sounds a little scary. It measures the brainwaves during sound that little ones can't tell you they hear. They need to be sedated or sleeping during the test but the test itself is painless. We are waiting now for the nurse here in town to make the appt. I have all these questions and I'm trying very hard to be patient in waiting until the appt comes and we find out the results.

All of these trials and health problems with all of my children are definitely helping me put my trust in God. I know with the power of prayer and trusting in Christ is the ONLY way I am making it through this time.

ongoing struggle........

Today is the 5th day after my daughter's surgery. It is taking it's toll on me. Whoever said "it will be fine, kids bounce right back", didn't have to force and hold down a 2 year old and plug her nose to make her take her must-needed medicine. I think if I didn't have to make her take her meds, I'd be fine, but this is terrible. Setting the alarm for every 4 hours to give her the grossest medicine in the world is something I will be so happy to be done with. She is sleeping better, which is good. She still can't eat anything but "soft foods" for another week. Here we were the other night, eating Carlos O Kelly's and she had to eat jello & pudding, I had brought from home. It was so sad.

I lost it a little bit last night @ around 1:30 a.m. when it was one of her nightly doses. I thought, ok this is going to be easy, she seemed to be awake and "with it". She even held onto her water glass. When the first half of the dose went it, she spit it all over her new pj's and on the counter. I lost it! I just yelled "AHHHHH, I can't do it anymore!" Of course, she was scared then. Thankfully my dear sweet husband came running down the stairs and very calmly and patiently gave her the rest of her medicine, without any complaint from me, I might add. I was so thankful that he could get her to take it, but also a little bit hurt at the same time. Why wouldn't she take it for me??? Why do kids always want their mommy when something hurts but that daddy is really the one to fix it?!? At least my kids are that way.

Finnely woke up from her nice, long nap this afternoon to find a card that her pre-school class had made for her. She hasn't let go of it since, either. What a sweet teacher and friends she has made in only a week. It will be nice next week when she gets to go back.

I am hoping tonight's med doses go smoother as I have been praying about it and trying very hard to be calm and see things from her perspective. Wish me luck....until next time.....

Growing in patience...or so I thought....

Well, I thought I would start my off my first blog telling you how I thought I was handling my sweet 2 year old daughters surgery. Finnely, my 3rd child, had her tonsils and adenoids taken out and ear tubes put in on Friday. The surgery itself went very well. She was only gone from me about an hour. I was thankful everything went well because I have heard all the horror stories about bleeding after and during surgery. I was sure my child would be the 2-3% that this happens to. When she wasn't in that %, I was relieved, that is until I got to her. Of course, I knew she would be out of it but I wasn't prepared for just how out of it she was.

I had a sweater on, because you all know how freezing hospitals can be. So, when I walked into the cubicle where she was waking up after surgery, I heard her screaming, "I want my mommy!" I knew she wanted me, at that moment, I wanted my mommy too!. I tried to take my sweater off, cuz I was getting hot real fast and the nurse handed her to me, before I could even get it off. At that point, my patience, was very strained. Finnely was wailing her arms around, noticing she had an IV in her hand, she punched me in the nose. My eyes started to water and I was trying to stay calm but I was stressed out!!! I was so hot, (from not getting my sweater off in time, my own fault, I guess, for wearing a sweater in August) I thought I was going to pass out. She was standing on my legs and screaming so loud. She had no idea what was going on or where she was. It was scary and all I wanted to do was scream right along with her. Finally the nurse, noticed my frustation and helped hold her up , so I could finally and thankfully take off the heater that I was wearing.

After what seemed like days, which in reality was only about an hour and half, she rested. Oh, how I LOVE when my children are sleeping. We stayed in recovery, not very long after she feel asleep and then we were off to the Peds department @ the hospital. Of course, the nurses there had to wake her up to take vitals and do their work. She woke up just as irate and scared as before. I, at that moment, wanted to tell the nurse to let her sleep, knowing though, that we would be there longer and that the nurse needed to do her job. So, I kept quiet and helped hold her down so they could do the pulse ox on her toe. She hated it, btw.

Thankfully as soon as the nurse was out the door, Finnely was again asleep. She looked like someone beat her. Her face was all swollen and purple. It was a little frightening. Just when I thought, maybe I should rest too, I needed to pee. Great, now what was I going to do?? Luckily, my nurse came in again. She asked it I needed and anything, I said, "I'm going to need to use the restroom soon" and she held out her arms and asked if she could hold Finn while I went. What a sweetheart, she was!Thankfully Finn only woke for a minute and fell right back to sleep after she was back in my arms. We rocked in the chair until that made her sick. She threw up a couple of times until the nurse told me to stop rocking. Once I figured out I was making her more sick by rocking her, we layed in the bed, (which was perfect for her, me not so much). I was trapped, with my head touching the top and my feet flat against the foot rail. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but Finnely slept for 2 hours. It was wonderful to see that.

When she did wake, she noticed that the ceiling tiles had stars etched into them. She immediatly starting singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". I was so excited to see her back to herself again. After seeing her smiling and singing, I thought, ok I can do this now.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty good. Once we got home, she was laughing and playing and wanting lot of snacks: jello, pudding, popsickles, juice. Not really eating any of it but wanting all of it. At that point, I didn't care, I gave it all to her. Anything to help make her feeling better and eat something, anything.

I'll get back to you on how the rest of the weekend went and how she is healing but until then, pray that my patience grows during this process.