New Year...New Blog

Blogger has let me down. 
I enjoy blogging, but as a busy mom it needs to be easy.  It needs to be done while nursing, rocking, sitting at bus stop, stirring dinner, or laying in bed. Which means I want to do  it from my  tablet. Blogger has failed to keep up so I'm moving to WordPress.  I will move my blog over when I figure out how.  But for now, new blog, including new intro and a Year End Review are currently going on over on: glimpseofpink.wordpress.com

See you there...

Prematurity Awareness Month-We Are The Faces of Prematurity

In case you didnt know...

Isaac was born July 29, 2008 at 28 weeks gestation.  He weighed 2lb 14oz and was 13inches long.  He spent 63 days in NICU.  Today he is a ornrey Kinderartener.

Exactly three years later I was admitted to the hospital.  James was born August 1, 2011 at 25 weeks gestation.  He weighed 2lb2oz and was 13 inches long.  He spent 77 days in NICU.  Today he is a rambunctious 2 year old.

A little shy of 2 years later we added Thomas to our family on July 22, 2013.  Thanks to medical research and advancements he was born at 37 weeks.   He weighed 7lb 11oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.  He came home with us and stayed in room with us the whole time at hospital.   Hes my "huge"  3 month old.

We are the faces of prematurity.
Its real.  It happens to good normal people who get prenatal care.
It can happen more than once.
It isn't the end.

Prematurity Awareness Month-Preemie Daddies

November is Prematurity Awareness Month.  To mark this I'd like to do some blog posting on  my thoughts, experiences, and random healing ramblings.  I'm going to be all ambitious and think I will get out all these thoughts in my head in several coherent well written blog posts...however I'm certain reality will hit and the dryer will buzz, my 3 month old will wake up, or I will remember it is bus stop time.....or something similar...

I was cleaning house and re-organizing pictures and came across this gem...back when we just became a family of 4 (and I am behind in blogging but we are now a family of 5...:-) )

That then got me to thinking...preemie Dad's are often forgotten.  We talk about how strong preemie mama's are...and Proud Preemie Mom and such things...but what about the Daddies?   The Daddies who are sitting alone in a waiting room because they are far from home and things happened too fast for anyone to get there...the love of his life is whisked away to an emergency c-section...and he sits..alone..texting and calling family..being the strong one..while his whole life hangs in the balance.  Daddies are tough ya know...they dont tear up, they dont act afraid.  They just take care of business...

Then baby is born...where does Daddy go?  What does he do?  Take pics?  Stay with his beloved wife?  Go meet his new son and pray that he is ok?  Mama wants to know how baby is?  What does he say?  Does he tell her how he is struggling?  Or just keep that fear to himself to bear alone and tell her how beautiful he is and how he has her nose?

Daddies are often the ones charged with all the driving on the trips to the hospital.  Ones in charge of camera while mama gets snuggles because her hear and breasts ache for the baby the most.  The one who is faced with the choice of being with the family or working and whatever the case is responsible for making sure the juggling act of paying bills actual works out. 

Daddies are the ones who usually have to hold a crying wife and mother after she has reached her limit of exhaustion from waking up during the night to pump that precious milk and make the phone calls to the NICU to just make sure everything is still ok.  Daddies have to be strong...

Daddies are the ones who wont let themselves break down but instead silently wonder if that little 2lb bundle in the isolette will ever be able to join him in the deer woods or build huge Lego creations. 

Daddies are special too.  And oh, so important.  I'm so thankful that I was given the perfect one to be my partner in this journey.   I pray that he knows how much I do appreciate him. 

Husband Bashing!

Why I Won't "Bash" My Husband

Recently Ive been involved in a 30-Day Husband Encouragement  Challenge.  Right now in our relationship this is a trying time with me being pregnant, him starting a new job, and just general crankiness.  Nothing major or anything like that, just harder to be a more pleasant wife during this seas
on, so I'm excited about this challenge, to push myself to be the wife my husband deserves.  Part of this challenge is to "Not say anything negative about your husband".  This is something I've been convicted of for a while and I wanted to share some of my thoughts on that.

When I was first married I was guilty of "husband bashing"  not that I didnt love him and think he was wonderful, we were just going through the newlywed angst of learning to live as a unit and a couple and rely on each other.  I'd be upset because we wouldnt be in "sync"on timings of things (such as when we did what, even in the bedroom *blush*) Or upset because he'd make certain decisions without me.  Or take someone else's input over mine.  And I did what any "good wife " did...I whined, pitched a fit, and called up (or logged on to) my girlfriends and started the "oooohhh..you know what he DID!" and they would be all "Oh no he didnt" and we'd have a big snowballing convo on how "horrible"  our husbands were and how they just couldnt do anything right.  And at the end of the day I was more mad at him and felt justified for that, and I'm sure some girlfriends who werent mad at their hubbys left that convo mad at some old grievance.

I then began to realize that my girlfriends couldnt do anything but take up for me and justify ME (and when they didnt...well they were just snarky know it alls and could just go away).  And all this while, hubby was at work and here I was bashing him and he couldnt even take up for himself, and often didnt even know I was mad, until he got home to his "quarrelsome wife."

I dont know when I had this epiphany, it probably came somewhere amidst buying a house, selling a house, dealing with infertility, having two preemies, two miscarriages, and all the other trying things in a marriage that can either draw you together or tear you apart.   But I realize when I take my issues to him, even if I am irrational about them, they dont snowball.  And they really arent any one's business but ours anyway.  No one else can help me "solve" them, they are between US, husband and wife. 

Now, I want to say Im not talking about teasing, or the occasional comment to a good friend.  I think teasing is our love language...lol and sometimes its said publicly.  BUT if you husband or wife is hurt by teasing you really shouldnt go there, I know when my husband gives me a hard time about being messy he still loves me.  He'll never do anything to truly put me down in front of others, and i know he's pretty thick skinned so I can tease him about his idiosyncrasies and he'll be just fine.

I think this can also go for boyfriends/fiancees and exes that you have children with. 

And there you have it...my great groundbreaking post of my deep marital insights.  But hey...8 years you learn SOMETHING.  We arent perfect.  I often fail, way more than I care to admit, but I will say the current day attitude of the lack of respect for husbands and fathers really saddens me and I fear this is just a portion of it

.

Ok, so my last post was a big whiney mess...oh well...Im 19 weeks pregnant and get a weekly hormone shot so maybe Im entitled it on occasion.   Speaking of pregnancy, Wednesdays the big day....ultrasound day!  We have out names picked and are anxiously awaiting (And hoping the little one cooperates and is not shy) to find out which we get to use!

I've been thinking pink but maybe just wishful thinking as I wont lie, ribbons and curls appeals to this mama.  However, I will be equally thrilled with a 3rd bundle of snips, snails, and puppy dog tails! 

Then we hold out and hope all preventative measures work and this baby bakes another 20 weeks!  And doesn't show up in about 5 - 8 weeks like his/her brothers have.  But whatever happens, God has it under control and we are truly blessed beyond measure. 

That moment when you are having a bad day...but realize no one really cares.  If you post it on facebook you are a dramatic mess and get ripped apart, because you aren't allowed bad days.  So you cry by yourself for a while.   Then you decide to blog about it, but know no one really reads that anyway.  So you realize you are just a rambling hormonal mess and come back later and delete it and return to your solitary self loathing....hormones are fun...then add in extreme stress, inability to do what needs done, but everyone nagging about you doing it anyway...yeah..that.  Feeling like an absolute failure at all things wife and motherhood related. 

My Smart Boys

Isaac has always been a smart boy and I love seeing his skills grow.  He is going to love Kindergarten!  His motor skills and tracing are greatly improving.  He's holding his pencil/crayon/marker correctly most of the time.   He knows almost all his letters.  He can count wonderfully.  He can do simple math.  He's finally decided coloring isn't too awful of a thing and actually attempts to color correctly now.  He's still not a huge fan of it but that's ok, Im actually getting correctly colored sheets home from Sunday school!  He's beginning to be interested in "what letters say that word." 

James on the other hand loves coloring.  He finds markers and crayons and paper and begs to color.  He usually ends up with a colored face as well but they are washable so we're good. 

New baby is smart too..just growing, chilling out, making mama nervous about how he/she will write his/her exciting story...Im hoping its not too exciting and filled with new(normal)experiences. 

Yes..I have my hands full...your point?

Life is hectic and fabulous.

Isaac is a sponge and his favorite exclamation at the moment is "Im learning!" Along with a big excited hug.  He also loves his speech therapy except when she wants him to say words to which he tells her "let's not do that right now".  He's a hoot.  Still dealing with some sibling rivalry but you better believe he gets defensive if anyone even talks to his little brother.  Isaac is anxiously await the new baby coming out, every day he lifts my shirt and checks (not sure what he's checking) and says "nope more waiting"

James is a little mess.  He says "Muuummmm-eeee" 29 million times a day.  His vocabulary is exploding...just this week we've heard "pee bee" (peek a boo), ball, nan-uh (banana) along with puppy,kitty, bubbee, and chicken (which is what he calls all birds).  He's also started identifying eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.  And pretends to know his letters...everytime he sees letters he says "abc".  He can climb furniture faster than you can blink!

New baby is doing good, nice heartbeat in the 170s.  Almost 11 weeks along.  A few easy weeks coming up then we start our full fledged attack to keep that little one baking.  Starting with a cerclage (cervical stitch) and progesterone injections in about 6 weeks.  Then we'll go from there.  But whatever happens everything will be ok, this baby is a gift from God and He has his/her life already figured out.

Christmas Blessings

Today we got a good look at our Christmas blessing.  A surprise little miracle.  As someone who has struggled with fertility issues this is a true miracle and a welcomed blessing, regardless of the timing because God knows best.  We already love this little one with all our being and cannot wait to welcome him/her into our family!  Praying for a full term pregnancy, I am blessed with a supportive and caring medical staff that is working with me taking every precaution.  Whatever happens we know God is in control and will see us through, as He always has.  The New Year is going to be amazing.  We are truly blessed that God has seen fit to grow our family, even if it was exactly in OUR plan, glad HE is in control.

Winter

Oh the weather outside is frightful...but the fire is SO delightful!  Let it snow, let it snow...

Blessed

I truly am.  I have 2 super cute rough and tumble boys.  A loving husband who is able to work from home and enjoy us (though Im sure he questions that sometimes..haha).  A warm house full of too many toys.  A kitchen full of too many dirty dishes.  A heart full of love.

Christmas

We decorated for Christmas today.  A little early for us but Isaac is having his tonsils out tomorrow and wanted to do it while he felt like it. 
Our decorations are a hodgepodge.  We have no theme.  Its just a collection of general things that I like.   Our tree will never be featured in a home decorator's magazine, but it makes my children's eyes light up so its perfect.  Each ornament means something...like the one with James' footprint from his first Christmas, the stylized Halmark "Our First Christmas" that I chose because it looked kind of like our cake topper, the crooked bead candy cane Isaac made, the ornament my Home Ec teacher gave me in highschool, the few I brought from home when I got married, and the cats that remind us why our limbs are all bent and sagging.  Our tree represents US, which makes it perfect, we are a little lopsided and a little big of hodgepodge too...

Lonely

That moment when you are having a bad night and need someone to talk to...and Facebook says you have "499 friends" yet you sit alone with no one to whine too...yeah...that.  Think I'll put the kiddoes to bed and call it an early night...lack of sleep and stress is starting to take its toll on me...

Crockpot Chicken and Rice (or noodles)

This has quickly become a staple recipe in our household.  Thanks to Pinterest!  I've modified it a bit to make it even easier and its a win! 

3 or 4 chicken breasts, boneless strips, thighs, or whatever you like, its not rocket science
1 block cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 packet dry Italian salad dressing mix (a new pantry staple for me!)
Minute rice, cooked rice, or cooked noodles

Mix everything but rice/noodles in crockpot.  Cook on low all day, or high all afternoon (real technical huh? Lol).  I stir every now and then to mix up cream cheese/sauce as it melts together.  When done I shred up chicken.  You can serve over cooked noodles or rice, but I've been lazy and want a one pot meal so I add some Minute rice...1/2 cup or so....and cook on high until rice is done and its starting to dry up.  Otherwise its pretty saucy, I like it a bit drier myself.  My family gobbles it up, even the kids!  Add a few veggies as a side and done! 

I love cloth diapers.  For one they are so pretty, finally got my temporary clothesline up, they look so pretty flapping in the wind, like little colorful flags..that also hold poop!  Lol

Patriotism

Today I got to teach the boys a valuable lesson.  While James it too young to remember it, I hope Isaac can.  I am a member of DAR and occasionally we get the honor a fallen soldier by standing in a flag line with the Patriot Guard riders.  Today was a special honor, this young man that we honored went MIA in Cambodia when his helicopter was shot down in 1975, today in 2012 he was found, identified, and finally got to return home.   I was so proud of both my boys today, they behaved wonderfully and seemed to understand that the event was solemn and respectful.  When the hearse passed, Isaac stood at attention, holding his flag high, his hand over his heart.  I hope that this is something he always remembers and that he learned  valuable lesson today...freedom is not free.  And we should thank those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.  (on a kinda funny  note...Isaac wanted very badly to go into the funeral home-we were all outside- so he could 'check on that soldier and see if he's ok.  He didnt totally get that he is deceased, but he understand that we should honor him.)

E is for Elephant

This week we did the letter E.  We didnt do as much letter work as we did writing, coloring, patterns, and such.  He wasnt in the best school mood this week but we did work on stuff, which is sufficient for a PreK'er. 

He of course wanted to do several dab a dot pages, he really loves those things. 


We traced a lot of stuff, and he colored a lot more this week since we had out new crayon stones.  An excellent purchase! 

We did some patterns with our pattern blocks, including making the letter E. 

We discussed elephants.  Elephants live in the jungle and are big and gray according to Isaac.


We also worked on some cutting skills, we cut straws, err...logs, for him to haul in his tractor to the lumber yard where "Jim Bob" had requested he put them in stacks of certain numbers.  Was a great skill for him to learn how to properly hold scissors...err...a chain saw.  Much easier to cut than paper for him. 

Next week is going to be a busy week.  We find out the details on his speech therapy on Monday.  We'll go to the fair (look for a post about our exhibits soon!).  We plan to go apple picking (and applesauce making).  We'll also do the letter F.  F for FAIR, FAMILY, FARM, and FISH!

New toys!

We used some of Isaac's birthday money and got him some new toys!  Err...I mean, education tools. 

I'm very pleased with our purchases and we have been using them a lot this week. 

One thing we got was Crayon Stones.  They are just little crayon "rocks".  The idea is to work on the tripod pincher grasp and transition to holding pencil correctly.  Since Isaac has a few fine motor delays I thought this would be a very useful tool for him.  And as soon as he took them out of the bag he was holding them correctly and colored much more than he normally does.  So I say they are a success.  And they are so cute and fun.  They also write very smoothly, I was impressed at that.  

We also got a tub of wooden pattern blocks.  I saw several different sets of these, but opted for the plain wooden ones in a big tub over magnetic ones, foam ones, ones with lots of pattern cards.  I found several pattern sheets online, including a set for all the letters and numbers.  Isaac too right to these, copying the patterns both on the sheet and off the sheet.  Plus they are just fun to play with.  I also plan to make some patterns on the copier, photo copy them, and then let him recreate them. 

I didn't get a picture of our last purchase, we haven't used it as much yet.  But I got a tub of geometric shape blocks.  I plan to have him copy designs and patterns with them too.  He has played with them some, building various structures but nothing directed as of yet. 

D is for Dinosaur

D is for Dinosaur

This was a fun letter.  I was able to find lots of fun hands on things for Dinosaurs. 

 
Per my previous post we did a lot of dot marker stuff.  I also tried something new and did a "letter search" where he dotted the letter with the marker (like a word search , just letters only). 

We watched the Magic School Bus dinosaur epidsode (did you know you can find nearly all those full episodes online?) 

We made frozen "ice age dino eggs" (little dinos inside frozen water balloons) which doubled as a lesson on what happens when ice gets hot and melts. 

We did playdough dino footprints and imprints. 













We did a dino dig in his sand box!

























Did another fun activity that was new to Isaac, took basic shapes and made abstract dinosaurs, he did really well since he had never done anything like that before.  Pattern blocks are on my get list very soon. 

I'm thinking if this heat breaks a little (should be only high 90s maybe later this week) we may go on an exploration...I here there is a pile of dinosaur bones around here somewhere....hmmmm....

Dot Markers

Dot Markers.  Dab a Dot.  Bingo Markers.  Whatever you call them.  They are  my new favorite tool.  I would see these dot sheets and I thought, oh those are weird.  However, I thought the dot markers might be good for Isaac's motor skills so I bought a set.  He LOVES them.  He begs to do them every day.  Yesterday he stayed with grandma for a while and I asked if he wanted to take a toy...no he wanted to take "school" he said, and wanted to take his markers and sheets.  So I printed him off a stack of sheets of various letters and he happily took them along!

Also excited to say that the train patterns and dot markers combines the kid FINALLY got the AB pattern.  SO excited.  I wasn't worried but I am so thrilled to see him picking up a new skill that he didn't know a few weeks ago!

You can also use the dot sheets for stickers, fingerpaint, and magnets.  Use your creativity!