A wise admonition

Our family decided to take an impromptu trip to McDonald's with a friend after church this morning. Not having planned it out beforehand, I had not packed our customary "allergy survival kit" which includes a Healthy Life hamburger bun and our bottle of Hunt's ketchup, both of which are corn syrup-free, unlike their standard McDonald's counterparts.

When we got to McDonald's we debated for a minute on whether or not to strip Benjamin's hamburger of its bun and deny him the delight of ketchup for his fries. We have been extremely diligent about his diet lately and he has not had any reactions for awhile. Based on this, and the fact that the amounts of corn syrup in a hamburger bun and 1/2 tablespoon of ketchup are most likely extremely small, we decided not to make a big issue of it. Our McDonald's trip passed without incident.

After dinner this evening Benjamin was seized with a sudden and severe case of stomach cramps. He laid down in the living room and the next thing we knew he was moaning, crying, writhing, and screaming in pain. I took him to sit on the potty which, suffice to say, produced results which relieved his symptoms entirely. Knowing I hadn't fed him anything taboo for dinner, I concluded that the reaction was a result of the earlier indulgence we allowed him. Obviously I concluded that we would not be able to take such risks in the future.

Wanting him to connect the pain he had just experienced with the cause to help him accept what we would have to deny him in the future, I took him on my lap and said,

"Benj, do you remember the bun you had on your hamburger and the ketchup you ate with your fries this afternoon?"
"Yes."
"Well those had a little bit of corn in them. Mommy and Daddy thought it would be ok, but I think that's what made you feel so sick a few minutes ago."

Looking at me with great big, serious eyes he said, "Mommy! You shouldn't do that to me!"

Leila

It's been quite awhile since I've given an update on the kids. I'll start with Leila since hers is most ground-breaking news to share: she has begun, this very day, to crawl!! She is hesitant but determined. She's not quite sure what she has just discovered but she wants more! Fortunately I was able to catch her first "steps" on video. What an exciting moment. Talia was right there next to her, cheering her on.

Let me back up a bit for those who might be confused about the timeline: yes, she is now 13 months. I guess she's taking the "laid back" approach like her sis. We've never had reason to be concerned about her gross motor delay, just as we were never really concerned about Talia's, but I have been a bit perplexed. With Talia we were sure that her constant ear infections were the major factor in her nearly complete stand-still in gross motor development from about 6? 9? months on. Since ear infections/fluid affect the inner ear, which of course is related to balance it seemed that she was simply unable to progress in movement until we finally resolved the ear issues with an ear tubes surgery. This has not been the case with Leila. She has only had 3 ear infections in the past 13 months, 2 within the last 3 months, but her delay can be traced back farther than that. I guess we can just chalk it up to her doting big brother & helpful big sister who get and/or do everything her little heart desires. She really is the princess of quite a lot. :) We will be working, starting next week, with our beloved "Miss Aimee" (the physical therapist we had for Talia), but at this rate we may not be with her for long. (Since I started the process of pursuing the PT 2 weeks ago, after months of little progression, she has decided to start rolling over, getting up on her hands & knees, and now crawling!)

In other Leila news, she turned one last month. We had a "Once Upon a Time" themed party for her, complete with a pink castle cake. Separate post with pix to come.

Growth-wise she has been following the same general curve as the other two with a huge drop-off in weight percentile around 6-9 months and a slow climb back onto the chart since then. At 12 months there was much rejoicing at the pediatrician's office: she was back on the chart at the 3rd percentile after having gained only 1 lb. between 4 & 6 months and 10 oz. between 6 & 9 months. She may be small, however she is mighty in appetite! I have never seen a baby put away food like this girl! Last month she was eating 1 c. of cereal, 20 oz. of fruits & veggies (that translates into 5 jars of baby food), and up to 4 cups of milk a day!


I don't know that I have recorded yet the happy fact that I FINALLY have a cuddler and a bit of a Mama's girl to boot! :) Don't get me wrong, she loves her Daddy, and squeals loudly with the best of 'em when he walks in the door at the end of the day, but she always has a cuddle for Mama and often "leans" toward me when I come within hand-off distance from whomever is holding her. Sigh happy sighs. After 4 1/2 years of selective (at best) huggers, I am completely in love with the novelty of a cuddly baby!

Truth be told Leila sort of has us all wrapped around her adorable little pinky finger. Sometimes Seth & I just can't put her down! Benjamin loves to do tricks for her, read books to her, and make her laugh. Often he will just stand nearby and say "Leeeeeeeee-la!" over and over in a sweet little voice. Talia also adores her baby sister and dotes on her a tad more than is strictly necessary (also a bit more than is sometimes appreciated by said baby sister). She loves to get her paci, her blankie, her cup, her toys.... I think for her it's like having a real live doll. Unfortunately I frequently have to put a stop to some of these "helpful" activities, such as the sudden snatching of her sippy cup with the announcement, "I think you're all done!"

Unclogging

Editorial note: I'm no longer "here" emotionally as I've had 3 or 4 more weeks to unwind, but I decided to post this anyway. I'll chalk it up to my catch-all: posterity. :)

I haven’t blogged in eons. You may have noticed (or maybe not :) ). The problem with not having blogged is when I sit down to update I wonder how on earth I should begin, especially in the face of the significant and monumental events which have recently occurred. Should I give a general update? Should I attempt to capture the enormity of graduation in an epic post about God’s faithfulness? I might do both of those things later. The latter certainly deserves some focused attention after all the challenges and trials that have been recorded here. The truth is I’m not sure I can muster up enough emotional energy to give these things, especially graduation, the ceremony they deserve. Yet. So my intent is to just write whatever comes to mind, let some thoughts flow, allow my brain to “unclog” a little, if you will.


I’m tired! Sort of fundamentally, down in my depths. I know I will slowly begin to gain back the energy to approach life with excitement and passion, but right now it’s hard to imagine getting excited about much of anything.

Just after graduation Seth & I had the incredible opportunity to go on a 4-day cruise. That time to truly relax was a gift. We had a wonderful time; it was all we could have asked for! It was wonderful to just be with my husband and put aside the many responsibilities of daily life. It was so restful to have a week with practically no schedule, no commitments. We could (and did) take naps whenever we felt like it. We had breakfast in bed. We sat on the deck reading and watching the sea go by. We took walks out on the decks at night. We even got some exercise in on the ship’s jogging track. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I was hoping to come back from our break full of life and energy and new passion. I was hoping to feel overflowing with happy emotion at the achievement of a long-awaited goal. Instead, I have come to understand that our week away jump-started the process of unwinding from the incredible stresses of the past many months.

I have been tempted to feel guilty for not being “fixed” by the magic of the break everyone kept telling me I needed. I wonder how I can possibly have the audacity to still be so unenthusiastic about my daily tasks. I feel positively ungrateful for not gushing over with bubbly emotions about having Seth home evenings, weekends, and the recently passed holiday. I am grateful, just quietly grateful....

...And now, because (as I stated at the beginning) I am feeling so much more refreshed it has become impossible for me to wrap up this post satisfactorily. But I think it worked. I feel much more "bloggy." Stand by.

Leila loves puffs

Yesterday Leila was having a snack of "puffs," which is definitely her favorite (see her reaction to finding puffs in her Easter basket in this picture).  Upon removing her tray, after she finishes any finger-food snack, we always find a little stash down in the bottom of her booster seat that she dropped. Yesterday I scooped up a little handful of these misplaced treats, along with a spare Cheerio from breakfast, and offered them to her in my palm. She considered them for a minute and went straight for the Cheerio, which surprised me considering she has always demonstrated a strong preference for her puffs. She grasped the Cheerio between her forefinger and thumb and with an emphatic gesture deliberately threw it on the floor.

Easter Pictures

I'm hoping this will work. I posted some Easter pictures on Facebook. You should be able to see this album even if you are not a member of Facebook. To see them click here. (Someone please let me know if it works. :))

Suffering

This past week has been a bit of a blur for us as we have been grieving with a close friend who suddenly lost her husband (31) last Wednesday morning. We are grieving over the loss of a good friend, while our hearts are broken for his precious wife and 3 young children. We long to "do something," while knowing that the best thing we can do is to be faithful in prayer and in friendship day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

I have been reading much on the subject of comforting those who are suffering and understanding what they need in their time of tragedy. I found this article on a friend's blog this afternoon. It is well worth reading.

More Things Not to Say to Those Who are Suffering | CCEF

Ammendment:

Here are two more links from a friend's blog.

Grief 101
Grief 102

Sweet Siblings

I decided it was time to get caught up on pictures. So I recently made an appointment to have Benjamin's 4 year, Talia's 3 year, and a sibling picture taken. I finally decided on outfits that (generally) matched for the sibling picture and the separate outfits for Benj & Talia's "alone" pictures. Despite a crazy day Monday (I took Talia in for another ear infection and spent 2 hours with Benjamin waiting for her prescription that evening at the pharmacy) I had everything ready the night before and was feeling pretty prepared.

Tuesday morning Benjamin, due in part to his late night out, slept in until 9:00. He came the the kitchen just after we had started breakfast. As he climbed up in his chair all of a sudden it hit me: I had completely forgotten to give him the haircut he DESPERATELY needed! There was no way I was going to let him have his picture taken looking like an overgrown bush, but there was also no way I was going to let another 2 or 3 months go by without getting these pictures done, which would happen if I canceled this appointment. Therefore, there was only one choice: cut Benjamin's hair before we had to leave the house at 10:45. I sped the kids through breakfast, put Leila down for her morning nap, and started in. Fortunately it was one of my faster haircuts and all went smoothly. We finished with about 20 minutes to spare for getting dressed, finding shoes, putting clips in the girls' hair, and getting everyone in the car.

I had intended to have the older kids do their separate pictures first before we did the sibling shot to give me time to feed Leila and give Leila a chance to observe things for awhile before throwing her into the mix. Unfortunately, when we arrived I realized I had forgotten to adjust my plans for clothing accordingly and they were wearing the outfits for the sibling picture. We decided to just go with it. Leila did NOT like being set on the floor with a big black box in her face...at all. At first she was stoic, then she was grumpy, then she began to just outright wail. We got a couple of shots while she was still stoic, but soon decided to abandon that effort for awhile and go on to Talia.Talia, despite being drugged up on Benedryl, managed to pull out her Talia charm for a couple of beautiful shots full of her happy little personality. Every time we go to this portrait studio she always LOVES to sit in this white rocking chair. As soon as it was our turn to go back she made a bee line for the chair, pulled it out and took up her perch. She did NOT want to leave that chair to sit on the floor with her brother and sister. So when it was her turn we asked the photographer, could she please have her picture taken in her favorite chair. She was so pleased!
This shot just makes her look way too grown up. When did this happen?
Benjamin is always ready to ham it up for the camera. He loves everything to do with going to the picture studio. He was really thrown for a loop, though, when the photographer wanted him to lay on the ground. He just could not take that seriously, for some reason. We got some hilarious shots of him making goofy Benjamin faces.And then he came up with this charmer:
Of course if Talia got a chair then so should Benj. Seth remarked he looked like he should have been smoking a cigar.Finally, we decided to give it one more try with Leila. After sitting in Daddy's lap for awhile she seemed to be in a better mood. Seth thought she might like sitting in the chair better than sitting on the floor. It was hilarious trying to get all three kids to look at the camera, smile, keep their hands down, and stay close enough to each other all at the same time. But the effort yielded some fun results:
I LOVE this shot
This was another fun one, simultaneous kisses. :)
I'm glad to say we really had a good experience. Of course, it never would have worked if Seth hadn't been able to come help me direct this three ring circus. (Thanks, Babe.) I'm glad we made the effort, even if it was quite an effort. :)