Thursday, March 27, 2014

Audra

   Last night, a few minutes before church started, I was coming out the bathroom when I heard a scream from outside, and behind the door.  I quickly looked back there and saw Audra with her fingers stuck in the crack on the hinge side.  As I opened the bathroom door, it had crushed her tiny fingers and didn't let up until I closed it behind me.  One look at her ring finger and I knew it was broken!  A sharp piece of white was poking through the skin of her finger halfway between the first knuckle and the end.  Her tiny finger had that sickening, abnormal dented look on both sides of it.  I grabbed up my diaper bag, Wesley, and Audra and drove to the hospital.  A friend from church also rode with me, which was a huge blessing seeing as how she took care of Wesley while I was with Audra.  The doctor took one look at her finger and said it looked like it was crushed, and ordered and X-ray.  Audra did SO well.  She'd quit crying but was still holding her little hands together as drove to the hospital, babying her finger.  She insisted on walking instead of being carried down the halls, and marched along beside me with her head held high, saying hi to all the nurses as she passed, and didn't even flinch as the giant X-ray machine loomed over her tiny hand.  She quickly won the hearts of every one of the nurses!  :)  One nurse said that she's never had a two yr old behave so well!  I was so proud of her!  (Now, if I can only figure out why she was so brave with a broken finger, but acts like the sky is falling when her brother bumps her???)   The X-ray showed that her finger was indeed fractured, but the bones had not separated.  The hard piece of white fragment was actually her finger nail protruding through the skin.  I didn't realize the nail was hard that deep into the skin.  I guess you learn something new every day.  :)  Since there were no bone splinters and the break was clean, there was nothing the doctor could do for her.  Audra sure is babying that finger though.  This morning it was swollen and purple, but she's playing like normal.  Every now and then I hear her howl in pain as her finger gets bumped in some way or another.  But life goes on.  :)  She may lose the nail, but I hope it won't be a permanent loss.

The picture doesn't really do her finger justice.  The underneath side is pretty swollen.


   As for Wesley, the dermatologist is referring him to see an allergist at the children's hospital in Indianapolis.  The allergists there are supposed to be really, really good, so hopefully we'll know something definite about his allergy within the next couple weeks.  I've spent the morning on the phone trying to get him an appointment.


   It looks like we could close on our house in the next two or three weeks.  I'm so excited!!!  We still have to get the test results for the septic inspection, but so far everything else has passed.  I'm now faced with the massive job of getting our home packed up and ready to move!  Where do you start???  As usual, I plan on "thinning down" on our belongings before the move.  I am determined that nothing extra is going to pass the threshold of our new home!!!  
 
   We have some good missionary friends who've been through our home many times, the Cleghorn family.  Though most of their children are much older than mine, Christian admires them immensely!  The Cleghorns could be classified as his heroes.  You can't go wrong having missionaries be your kids heroes!  The other day Christian was looking through a book and saw a picture of a Texas Longhorn .  He ran to me and asked, "Mama, is that a Cleghorn?"  :)




Monday, March 24, 2014

A Day At The Park



   Its VERY rare that Andy takes a day off and we go somewhere as a family.  Not because he doesn't want to, but simply because he can't.  He's so busy with church work and there is always something that needs to be done, people to call, or visits to make.  But yesterday was so nice, and he decided to take a break and take the family somewhere to enjoy the beautiful 65' weather!!!  We packed a picnic bag and the kids up and drove to the park.  We have the most wonderful "old fashioned" park about a 10 min drive away.  Its got the old metal playground toys that I used to enjoy when I was a kid.  The big plastic play places are okay, but there's nothing like the tall metal slides, the old, rough board see-saws, and paint chipped merry-go-rounds.  I spread and old quilt on the grass, gave the kids a baggie full of snacks, and turned them loose. They had a blast!  I held my breath when Christian climbed to the top of the very tall metal slide without a hesitation.  (Did my mom do the same when it was me at his age?)  Andy and I got to sit and talk and enjoy the kids together for an afternoon.  I cherish those times!  Life gets so consuming at times, and its good to just slow down a little and enjoy the blessing that God's given us.

   I'm taking Wesley to the dermatologist tomorrow.  We're still battling this rash, and now he's developed some new symptoms.  Every time I feed him solids, he throws up violently and repeatedly.  Last Wednesday, I fed him some cereal with apples, and two hours later he threw up four times in the space of a half hour.  Once he turned blue and I had to flip him over and pound on his back before he threw up again and his color returned.  He was wore out and slept most of the day.  He was fine until Saturday when I fed him cereal with pears.  Two hours later, he began violently throwing up again.  I did some research online and found a certain allergy/syndrome that matches the symptoms he has, including the rash.  I think its all connected.  Some of the big trigger foods are rice, oat, wheat, and barley baby cereals, and cows milk and sometimes soy.  I already suspected he had an allergy to cows milk because every time I drink a glass of it, he breaks out within the next several hours.  The article I was reading says that the symptoms are milder when the trigger foods are passed from the mother than when they are received directly into the baby's system in the form of solid food.  That would explain the rash, and then the more severe symptoms of vomiting a couple hours after eating solids.  And every trigger food has a different reaction time!  The rash always shows up about a day after the milk gets in Wesley's system.  And the cereal causes the vomiting almost exactly two hours after eating it.  Some trigger foods can have a delayed reaction of 4, 8, 12 hours etc before the vomiting starts.  All his symptoms match this allergy.  The article said that many babies will outgrow it by the time they are three, but some will continue to struggle for years with the trigger foods.  Its a rare condition, and can be serious due to the severe vomiting, which can cause dehydration and shock in infants.  This probably explained Wesley turning blue during his third round of vomiting.   I'm going to talk to the dermatologist tomorrow and see if we can't get referred to another allergist to see if this is indeed what Wesley has.  It could be a long road for him as we try to find what exactly he is allergic to.  One thing going for us though is that since he's just now starting out on food, we can start from scratch as we introduce one new thing at a time, whereas if he were an older child, it would be very difficult finding the trigger foods if he already had so much of it already in his system.  For now, I just have to watch what food I eat, and slowly introduce solids to Wesley very slowly and try to avoid the reactions as best as we can. 



No, he wasn't posing.  :)


How did children survive on such "dangerous" toys???   :)  Hey, these old paint-chipped, metal slides were WONDERFUL!   Christian was more afraid of plastic, covered tunnel slide!







I remember when I was in first grade at a little school in Ohio, our recess was at the same time as the high school student's.  We used to love it when the big boys pushed us little kids on the merry-go-rounds! 
















Remember the thrill of feeling like you were going to fly off at any minute??  :)




An awful picture, but oh well.  I never boasted on being photogenic.  :)  Its for Mom.  She's very forgiving...  :)  My excuse...it was a windy day, selfies do not compliment me, and the background was all wrong.... 


Christian has never met a stranger.  He and this little fellow became playmates within seconds of saying, "Hi".  (Did they even say that?)

Ok, he won't need a ball glove when he plays catch in the back yard.... 


Loading up after a fun day at the park

Saturday, March 22, 2014

This and That...

   One of the prayers at the top of my list is that my children get saved young and grow to serve God all their lives.  It seems that God is working on Christian's little three year old heart.  He's been asking lots of questions about God, Heaven and Hell, Jesus dying on the cross, salvation, and where people go when they die, etc, and then thinks about it for awhile after we answer those questions.  Many times, he'll stop and ask us a question right in the middle of some activity or childish game he's playing.  Yesterday, I was rocking Wesley in the living room while Christian and Audra played.  Christian climbed into the back of his big dump truck and sat on his knees, bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, please save me and Audra."  Then he looked up at me and asked, "Does it take a long time for God to save you after you pray?"  I wanted to cry!  Such a sweet, innocent question, but one that was so sincere.  I don't think he fully understands just yet, but he's close.  God is working on his little heart and I long for the day when the "lights" of understanding come on and he accepts Christ into his heart.  He's only three and we are not pushing him into a prayer, but at the same time, we are answering his questions and encouraging him in that direction.  He asks almost every night for the "story about Jesus dying on the cross" at bedtime.  It won't be long!

Playing at the neighborhood playground





















Rice Krispy Treats with an Healthy Twist

3 Tbls butter melted
1 16 oz. Jet Puffed Mini Marshmallows
6 C. Rice Krispies cereal
1/4 C. milled flax
1/2 C. sunflower seeds
3/4 C. quick cooking oats.

* Melt butter in a large bowl.  Add the marshmallows and cook in microwave for about a min and a half.  Stir thoroughly, then add the remaining ingredients.  Scoop out into a buttered 9" square dish, and press down with buttered hands.