Who's the prettiest?

Last night when we went to have our pictures taken, the photographer was SUPER nice and he's getting to know all the kids beforehand. He's asking them questions like what they did at school, how old they are, who's the oldest, who's the smartest, but the killer was....

"Which one of you is the prettiest?"

EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. THE. GIRLS. points to....

BRENT!!!!

Priceless.

I will beat you with my stick!

I was doing the dishes when B came up to me and said "Mommy, say 'Little pig, little pig, let me in' to me"

Me: "Little Pig, little pig let me in!"

B: "Not by my hair not by my chin!"

Me: "Then, I'll huff & I'll puff and I'll BLOW your house in!"

B: *hands on hips* "Uh, no you won't! My house is made of sticks!"

Me: "Yes! Then, I will blow your house in!"

B: "No you won't 'cause I will beat you with my stick!"

Ohhhhhhh boy!

"I will beat you with my stick!"

I was doing the dishes when B came up to me and said "Mommy, say 'Little pig, little pig, let me in' to me"

Me: "Little Pig, little pig let me in!"

B: "Not by my hair not by my chin!"

Me: "Then, I'll huff & I'll puff and I'll BLOW your house in!"

B: :eyebrows raised *hands on hips* "Uh, no you won't! My house is made of sticks!"

Me: :lol "Yes! Then, I will blow your house in!"

B: "No you won't 'cause I will beat you with my stick!"



Ohhhhhh boy!!!!!!

Wherefore Art Thou, O Spring??

Anyone that lives in the mid-west will understand where I'm coming from. I am done and over winter and so ready for spring!

We've had a crazy week! No school, lots and lots of ice and one thing after another.

Since Olivia has been on her new monitor we've called in, I believe, 6 episodes and my hair is turning gray!

We attempted to get the van out of our icy slope of a driveway on Friday in hopes of getting our taxes done and we ended up stuck in the yard where it will most likely reside until spring.

We ran out of propane and said icy slope made it impossible for the propane truck to get to us, so Kev headed to town in the truck to get a 100lb bottle in hopes of getting us through until the truck CAN get to us.

The hot water heater quit on us, but we are so thankful to our landlords who rushed out ASAP to fix it for us.

I feel like a big complainer, but really despite this challenging week, I truly am very thankful. I'm thankful for all that we have and thankful that things are as good as they are.

update on olivia

Just got home (around 8pm)...what a long & exhausting day.

We got there and they did another EKG and rhythm strip....both looked fine.

The ped cardio came in and discussed the holter monitor results with us. She disagreed with what we were originally told. She didn't feel that the arrhythmias that were picked up in the beginning were of real concern...she said the real concern was what showed up while she was sleeping. THIS is where the 'heart block' comes into play. She showed us the strip and I couldn't believe the difference in the readings. At night her heart rate is slowing down way too much and is occasionally missing beats, etc. It looked so weird. She said the good thing is you can tell when she was restless or awake, because things would go back to normal :uh Ok, I'm still freaked out. I really think this is why she's so restless at night and wakes so frequently, but the cardio seemed unsure about the connection :dunno

She said she has no idea what is causing the heart block and that it's very rare in the way it's happening with her. She doesn't feel the passing out was related to this in any way. She agreed with the first dr that it was her innocent heart murmur and her body being weakened by the virus she already had :uh Again, no reassurance to me as we've been told it could certainly happen again the next time she gets ill.

She said at this point the only thing she thought we could/should do is to place her on a 30 day event monitor. Depending on what that shows, she'll order further testing or see her 1-2 times a year for a repeat holter reading just to make sure nothing has changed or nothing new has developed.

Thanks to everyone for the P&PT :hug :adore

big day tomorrow

I'm so exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open, but yet I can't sleep. I'm a nervous wreck about tomorrow.

We'll leave for Childrens Hospital in StL around 6 am and if you have any good thoughts to send our way, I'd appreciate it.

AIPD

I thought I'd try to explain a bit better, since I've gotten some questions as to what is going on.

What I have is AIPD (auto-immune progesterone dermatitis) it is hormone-induced dermatoses. People handle it differently, but for me what it means is that I'm producing higher levels of progesterone and my body is reacting adversely to it. My prog peaks the week before my period and that's when my symptoms worsen. I get migraines, feel really fatigued and achy, I get a bad rash, etc. It's certainly tolerable, but still not fun.

WARNING - a downer

I feel like such a downer lately, posting all bad stuff, but this place is like my refuge and it's nice just being able to type it out.

I was reading through the paper work the dr sent home with me yesterday re: the auto-immune thing. 'an outbreak early in pregnancy has been associated with miscarriage' *cry*

I don't even have the words for all the thoughts and feelings going through my mind last night. It was almost a relief of sorts to have a 'why' for losing Ava, but at the same time it hurts.

Overwhelming day

It's been a long, overwhelming day. We left for Springfield around 7:30 this morning and haven't been home long (it's 10pm)

Sav went to the derm to have planters warts removed and I saw the derm for my chronic skin stuff and other symptoms (since July 05) Sav did great and has a followup in a mth. I found out I have some sort of auto-immune thing where apparently my body is producing too much progesterone AND my body is 'allergic' to it. He said that's the best way to describe it. My only options are to treat the symptoms by receiving strong antihistamine & steroid shots (which I don't want to do unless necessary) OR have my ovaries removed or go on the strongest birth control pill (can't do because of breastfeeding). So, at this point, it's try to put up with the skin stuff and the migraines unless they get worse and then we pursue other options.

We got a call shortly after arriving home from Olivia's dr. The holter heart monitor did pick up more arrhythmias, but they thought it was a good sign that she didn't pass out again. So for now, we're just to keep an eye on her- she can go to school, but no gym or recess and someone is to be with her at all times. She sees the ped cardio at Childrens Hospital in St Louis on Feb 13th.

I need to go to bed.......

How do I do it?

I can't even tell you how many times over the past several years I've been asked the question "How do you do it?"

How do I do what, you wonder? Raise seven children, of course.

Every time we're asked that question it never fails to make me look at my husband and chuckle. It just seems like such a silly thing, to be questioned about something you give absolutely no thought to.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the answer to that question, my response is always the same... "We just do!"

We get lots of complements on how well behaved they are or what a good job we're doing and I'm sure there are just as many times that people are rolling their eyes and whispering to each other about how crazy we are and what a mess we're making of things. And, you know what? It's all good :) No one is perfect and we certainly don't claim to be. We're like every other parent out there struggling to do the very best we can, hoping that we're making the right decisions and leading our children down the correct paths.

If I sit down and REALLY think about 'how' we do it, I could type a novel (hey, maybe I should!). The key to making it all work is my amazing husband, Kevin (and no, I'm not just saying that because he reads my blog). I am truly blessed. Sure there are days when I give him 'the look' and there are times I just shake my head and mutter under my breath and even times the poor man just has to sit back and take all the ranting and raving my lungs can muster. But, more often than not, I just look at him and thank God for giving me such a wonderful man. There are days I'm truly in awe of all he does and how he manages it all. He can put in a long day at work and still come home and fill any request I might have (well, most of the time LOL) I tell you, this man deserves way more credit than he gets. I know a lot of our friends and family see it, but strangers always sound off with praises of me. Little do they know there is NO way that I could do it without him. I love you, honey.

Then, there are the children. They are seriously seven of the best kids you will ever meet. Yes, they too have their moments but they really do make it easy. We've been blessed with very independent children (I can't believe I'm saying that because it's so frustrating at times) We have the normal sibling stuff, but they all get along very well. Everyone loves to help out and it's usually a race to see WHO is going to get to help. Some days I'm just amazed that God has entrusted us with these precious little people. They are such a joy.

For things to go smoothly, you really have to be an organized person. As much as I like to be organized and for things to be 'just so' sometimes it just isn't possible with a large family, so you learn to let some things slide.

Just to give you an idea of some of the things I do to help things run smoothly. Every evening I lay out the kids clothes for the next day. They know when they wake up in the morning that their clothes are in the living room in order from Ariana on down. We have charts, calendars, and bulletin boards galore. Those really help! The toy area has actually been staying very organized. Everyone, except H, has finally grasped the concept of things belonging in a certain place (labeled toy bins are your best friend) and clean up every day USUALLY goes pretty well.

Speaking of toys, my best friend got cracked up at me a couple of weeks ago when she overheard me talking to the kids while we were on the phone. I had to explain to her what exactly I meant by Kyra's 'stick' was in the wrong place and that's not what she had 'checked out' All of the girls' had gotten GameBoys (birthdays & Christmas) and with them come lots of little games....games times 5. So, while shopping at WalMart one day I came up with a genius idea. I'd seen those over the door car (HotWheels) holders. PERFECT!! I snatched one of those suckers up, brought it home and Kevin made labels for each pocket. The labels told the name of the game and stuck inside the see through pocket. I got colored popsicle sticks and wrote the girls' names on them and VOILA! We had a 'check out' system for GameBoy games! Goodbye games all over the house! Goodbye turning the house upside down for 2hrs Christmas morning looking for BRAND NEW games we thought must've been thrown in the trash. HELLO sanity!

Yep, we're a little nutty, but all in all I think we're a pretty cool family :)

Truly pathetic

Yes, it's February 2008 and I've made no effort whatsoever to keep up with my blog. The majority of the time I just feel like I don't have anything interesting enough to say....I should work on that.

In the meantime, if you have prayers to spare, please remember my daughter Olivia.