I'm terribly behind in writing down some of the things that go on around here. I felt bad that we weren't able to get a birthday sign done for Isabella. It's been a tradition here for the past 6 years. She didn't seem to notice to much since she's been totally absorbed in her pool party details. For her birthday she chose to have a large pool party. It should prove to be fun. I am praying for good weather and sanity. After the pool we have to get everyone over to the park for some food and cake. I really don't relish the idea of trying to get a bunch of kids out of a pool, clothed and moved to another spot. Especially since I'm still gimpy :-) Seeing as how most of the kids she invited were her age, we shouldn't have too much of a problem. I am hoping that we remember to take pictures, but trying to keep an eye on so many kiddos may mean otherwise.
Baby Aubrey finally got his first tooth!! He has not been sleeping well for the last week or so and we finally know why. I am just so thankful for being able to get some nap time in since my mom is here. Aubrey was waking at 2 or 4 AM and staying up for two hours. Then come the early morning hours and he just wanted to nurse and nurse and nurse and....Since it isn't easy, nor comfortable to lay on my side, due to my leg, I can't sleep while I'm nursing him like I would normally do. We just went online to order an amber teething necklace. It took the baby forever to fall asleep tonight, and it was clear that he was in pain. We only had a wee bit of baby Tylenol to give him. I figured this way we don't have to worry about running out of pain meds, as the teething necklace is supposed to release a natural oil that helps with pain. Hey, I'm gain for new ideas :-)
I start physical therapy next week. I've been told I need to get off the crutches. So I try to walk around with one crutch only using it when my leg feels like it's going to give out. I can already tell that it's getting stronger compared to three days ago. This 'stronger' is only relative of course as my leg is in pretty sad shape. I'm allowed to take off the brace for bed time and if I'm just hanging out on the couch. What a wonderful break from the brace! I've started to try to make small movements. I can only bend my knee like a few inches. Wow, it's amazing how quickly your joints can lock up!
I've been preparing for the new school year. I have a ways to go before we will be all ready, but I may start them this coming Monday. It's hard to say. We still have our summer reading that we haven't finished ( a few more chapters left). And I plan on putting Isabella, Flannery and Moira on the GAPS intro diet on Monday. It might seem odd that Jed isn't included, but this is for many reasons. Isabella is going on it to see if we can't make a big change in her hernia situation. With four months till the end of the year, we need to make some big changes to see if we can avoid surgery. For Flannery, she NEEDS to be on this as there is a big, BIG correlation with her diet and her 'splinters'. She's been on a much restricted diet for the past week and only once did she complain of some pain, and that lasted only a few minutes. But, she had birthday cake for Isa's birthday....Oh...MY...GOODNESS!! Yeah, she claims that she isn't better at all, that she has been in pain all week long and just hasn't told us. If you knew, and saw Flannery during these episodes you KNOW that isn't true. This child can not hold back from freaking out over every little thing. I'd give some examples to show how totally out of control this is, but I dont' have the time to do so right now. Trust me, this is crazy! Moira is joining them only because she has been begging me to start the GAPS diet and when she heard that those two were going on it she asked to go on it too. Since my mom will have to help with the cooking, I didn't want to add anyone else on the list. Once I am better (up and doing all the cooking, etc.) I will put everyone on the diet. So with a new diet and starting the new school year on the same day...hmm, yeah crazy, school should wait till the following week.
All right, it's getting late and I need to get some sleep before the baby wakes to spend the rest of the night restless.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Jed's GI appointment
It has been a whole year since we last visited the GI office. I am pleased to say that it went better than I had hoped. I was dreading this visit. A lot. I was even thinking of cancelling it. My main concern was that they would suggest that we put Jed's tube back in. I *know* the progress that Jed has made this past year. He's made great strides in many problem areas. This is great and wonderful. I was hoping that GI was going to see these gains. Thankfully they did. Unfortunately the great golden goblet named "weight and height gain", was not found at this appointment. As I surmised, Jed, although he has grown and gained weight, has fallen more from the main curve. I was so nervous, waiting for his doctor to tell me his thoughts on the matter. I was relieved to be told that they want him to be 'normal', and that there is no talk of reinserting the tube. They brought the nutritionist in for a consultation, and asked if we could have Jed's blood drawn. Jed was such a trooper. I told him ahead of time what to expect. I told him that he couldn't move his arm. That boy was very brave. He sat stock still! He whimpered a bit and said it hurt, but he just sat there watching vial after vial drawn. He was proud to show off his Bugs Bunny bandaid :-) To cement the matter that GI is not concerned about Jed, we don't have to be back until next summer! Phew! I am so glad it is over and it went better than expected.
It seemed that only my mom and I were worn out by the long day :-) Everyone else had way too much energy! I tried to catch a cat nap on the couch while the baby napped. Ha, funny! Oh well. It is later than I was hoping to get into bed. I keep saying how I'm going to go to bed early each night, but somehow it never happens. Maybe tomorrow....
It seemed that only my mom and I were worn out by the long day :-) Everyone else had way too much energy! I tried to catch a cat nap on the couch while the baby napped. Ha, funny! Oh well. It is later than I was hoping to get into bed. I keep saying how I'm going to go to bed early each night, but somehow it never happens. Maybe tomorrow....
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Ugh
Well, I was going to upload some pictures I took yesterday. But I had a sick feeling in my tummy when my Mom picked up my camera's card reader off the floor. Turns out that one of the boys, probably Jonah, got a hold of it and bent the tines, making it unusable. That is the second one we bought in the past few months. My camera's ability to download them directly is broken, and would cost a pretty penny to fix. These card readers are relatively cheap, but they won't be if we have to buy a new one every month or two!
Now Isabella just came up to the back window to ask for honey. Honey? Yes, apparently now we have a chicken with it's insides coming out. Hey, I don't make this stuff up. The remedy is to coat it with honey for it to reduce swelling. Jeremiah and the older three girls are out there taking the bandages off the chickens' feet, from the bumblefoot that they, *hopefully*, HAD. Past tense, past tense. Is it only me that sees that something new and dreadful has been happening to us, every week, if not daily, since the beginning of this year? I mean, really now. Every time I think we've got a "bandaid" on one situation, another situation pops right up to take its place! Deep breath in, deep breath out....repeat :-)
I'm trying not to go crazy. Not being able to get up and help is a real bummer. The good news is that I was able to make it to church today. It's now evening and it's apparent that the outing aggravated my knee. Nothing that a couple of Advil won't 'fix'. I'm just wondering how this is going to work for Jed's appointment this Wednesday. I decided not to cancel his appointment. It may be beneficial that my Mom is with us to give an eye witness account of how much Jed does indeed eat. I have a feeling that the GI doc is not going to be really happy with Jed's progress. I could be wrong, I hope I'm wrong. GI wanted me to add powdered milk to most of Jed's foods to increase the caloric value of what he was eating. The problem is....powdered milk is exceedingly bad for you. I really can't see how pumping bad stuff into him on a daily basis is going to help him in the long run. It was good to hear that my brother was very small for his age, but that he caught up in his teen years. He's now 6 foot (at least). My brother had a bunch of neurological issues as well. I do know that Jed looked just like my brother. I am hoping that GI will see that we have Jed's best interest at heart and that the things we do for him have been researched by us. Please pray that his appointment goes well. The last time they saw him was last August. I feel a lot has changed in the past year, I pray that they will see the changes as well.
So, no pictures for a while. Not until we get a new card reader.
Now Isabella just came up to the back window to ask for honey. Honey? Yes, apparently now we have a chicken with it's insides coming out. Hey, I don't make this stuff up. The remedy is to coat it with honey for it to reduce swelling. Jeremiah and the older three girls are out there taking the bandages off the chickens' feet, from the bumblefoot that they, *hopefully*, HAD. Past tense, past tense. Is it only me that sees that something new and dreadful has been happening to us, every week, if not daily, since the beginning of this year? I mean, really now. Every time I think we've got a "bandaid" on one situation, another situation pops right up to take its place! Deep breath in, deep breath out....repeat :-)
I'm trying not to go crazy. Not being able to get up and help is a real bummer. The good news is that I was able to make it to church today. It's now evening and it's apparent that the outing aggravated my knee. Nothing that a couple of Advil won't 'fix'. I'm just wondering how this is going to work for Jed's appointment this Wednesday. I decided not to cancel his appointment. It may be beneficial that my Mom is with us to give an eye witness account of how much Jed does indeed eat. I have a feeling that the GI doc is not going to be really happy with Jed's progress. I could be wrong, I hope I'm wrong. GI wanted me to add powdered milk to most of Jed's foods to increase the caloric value of what he was eating. The problem is....powdered milk is exceedingly bad for you. I really can't see how pumping bad stuff into him on a daily basis is going to help him in the long run. It was good to hear that my brother was very small for his age, but that he caught up in his teen years. He's now 6 foot (at least). My brother had a bunch of neurological issues as well. I do know that Jed looked just like my brother. I am hoping that GI will see that we have Jed's best interest at heart and that the things we do for him have been researched by us. Please pray that his appointment goes well. The last time they saw him was last August. I feel a lot has changed in the past year, I pray that they will see the changes as well.
So, no pictures for a while. Not until we get a new card reader.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
bumblefoot
Bumblefoot, it almost sounds like a silly name for a chicken. However it's the illness that almost a dozen of our chickens are fighting right now. Ya just gotta love all the 'learning as we go' that goes on around here. I think I mentioned yesterday that we lost a chicken to 'something'. Well, come to find out that a bunch of our chickens have that 'something'. I got on to the backyard chickens forum. The consensus was that our chickies have bumblefoot. Bf (bumblefoot) is a staph infection in the chicken's foot. You will notice a swelling at the top of the foot, if it has had time to grow. Otherwise you see a black scab on the bottom of their foot. With lots of soaking, cleaning and some minor surgery they should be on the mend. Jeremiah and the girls took care of the large task this evening. We will check in on everyone tomorrow to see how they are faring. I am hypothesizing that the infection started with our new chicken roost's roof. The staph gains it's entrance by a scratch or cut in their foot. I really couldn't believe almost half of our chickens all came down with this. On the chicken forum people were saying that if you live in a wooded area that would lend itself to the chickens getting cuts and hence, bumblefoot. We have had chickens here for the past three summers and none of them came down with this before. We bought a metal roof to go on top of our newly built chicken nests/roosts. However it had very sharp edges. Jeremiah had it laying against our fence, and I am guessing that some of the chickens tried to roost on it, thus cutting their feet. I am hoping that is the case. I really can't imagine having to go through this all over again. Who knew all that went into chickens!
Baby continues to do better. He's a ball full of energy. He is trying to get up on his knees! Where did my wee little baby go? Ha! He is very, very interested in the food we are eating. He's only had wee little tastes of soft things that we eat. But he is hooked :-)
Poor Jed wasn't feeling well to his tummy this morning. I have been making sure to only be online first thing in the morning, and then after the kids are in bed. However we forgot to take off the wireless yesterday. So it was no surprise that Jed was sick to his tummy today. Once I turned the wireless off he was feeling better a couple of hours later. He has an appointment with GI next week. This is the appointment I've been nervous about. However, at this point I don't think he'll be able to go. My mom could drive us, but it's a lot of walking and I really can't see that happening right now with my knee. I think I will have to reschedule. Isabella has an appointment the following week with GI, and that may have to be cancelled as well.
Tomorrow is a new day. I pray that it will be a blessing to all.
Baby continues to do better. He's a ball full of energy. He is trying to get up on his knees! Where did my wee little baby go? Ha! He is very, very interested in the food we are eating. He's only had wee little tastes of soft things that we eat. But he is hooked :-)
Poor Jed wasn't feeling well to his tummy this morning. I have been making sure to only be online first thing in the morning, and then after the kids are in bed. However we forgot to take off the wireless yesterday. So it was no surprise that Jed was sick to his tummy today. Once I turned the wireless off he was feeling better a couple of hours later. He has an appointment with GI next week. This is the appointment I've been nervous about. However, at this point I don't think he'll be able to go. My mom could drive us, but it's a lot of walking and I really can't see that happening right now with my knee. I think I will have to reschedule. Isabella has an appointment the following week with GI, and that may have to be cancelled as well.
Tomorrow is a new day. I pray that it will be a blessing to all.
Monday, August 01, 2011
Baby boy update and more
I am very happy to report that baby Aubrey is feeling much better. Even more so since we bought some Desitin. Let's just say that the antibiotics are not being kind to his gut. Besides sleeping a lot more than usual, he has been acting his normal, happy, inquisitive self. For that I am very grateful!!
Unfortunately now that he's feeling better we actually had a chicken become sick looking. My Mom took Isabella and Jonah with her to the Tractor and Supply store to get some powdered antibiotics. We gave it to the chickens. However I was doubting if she was drinking much, so I asked Jeremiah to give her the injectable antibiotic. Not one minute later the poor chicken was dead! Oh, how sad. It was Saoirse's chicken, named Honey-Bear. Not being sure what she died of we will have to watch the rest of the flock closely. I am hoping it is something on the simple side, like the heat got the best of her? But her comb was turning purple, more and more as the day progressed, meaning a lack of oxygen. Not sure what to make of it.
I wrote up a bit of a routine, a very, very loose one. The kiddo's really do much better with some direction. I'll admit that they have been watching way too many movies/cartoons. This really has to stop. So I've outlined the following 'routine' ( I type this out here so that I have a copy of it as well, paper copies have a way of disappearing):
8:00--get up
tidy bedrooms
put a load of laundry in
milk goats/feed dogs (Isabella)
play outside
wash up and get dressed in clean clothes
10:00--breakfast
room tidy up (assigned rooms)
girls take turns helping boys clean up their room
reboot laundry
11:30--school time:
Math -Saoirse with me
Isabella and Flannery with DVD math
Moira with the boys
Reading/Phonics/Spelling-Saoirse with me
Flannery next, with me
Moira on Math
Isabella with boys
Spelling/Handwriting-spelling with Isa and Moira
Handwriting for Saoirse and Flan
Isa and Moira journaling
Science/Nature Study--2-3 times a week with all girls
2:00--quick tidy, clean up school things
have snack/light lunch
reboot laundry
3:00--free time
5:00--help with dinner
put last load of laundry into drier (no more wash)
6:00--History with Dad
6:30--dinner
7:30--dinner clean up
put laundry away
room tidy
milk goats
family worship
games/reading
9:00--bed time
That is it in a nut shell. Seems all nice and 'pretty' on paper :-) Ha, ha! Today I had the girls clean up the bedrooms, which will make 'tidying' them up much easier. I am hoping that this will help us regain some normalcy. Today has been two full weeks since my fall. The good news is that I feel no pain as long as I am hanging on the couch. I can now walk the length of the house (with crutches) with minimal pain, *but* after that the pain starts building and building. I can't be up more than 2 or 3 minutes before my knee is very much uncomfortably painful. Oy. I feel like a broken record....I guess I just need to be patient. I'm not seeing how this is going to turn into something I can walk on with out crutches before the 6 weeks is up. It just seems that this recovery thing is going ever so slowly. It seems that every two days or so I tweak my leg/knee. Nothing major, but I seem to take two steps forward and one step back. I am sure you are all getting bored of my knee talk by now! Sorry about that.
Not much else going on...and I would really like to keep it that way!
Unfortunately now that he's feeling better we actually had a chicken become sick looking. My Mom took Isabella and Jonah with her to the Tractor and Supply store to get some powdered antibiotics. We gave it to the chickens. However I was doubting if she was drinking much, so I asked Jeremiah to give her the injectable antibiotic. Not one minute later the poor chicken was dead! Oh, how sad. It was Saoirse's chicken, named Honey-Bear. Not being sure what she died of we will have to watch the rest of the flock closely. I am hoping it is something on the simple side, like the heat got the best of her? But her comb was turning purple, more and more as the day progressed, meaning a lack of oxygen. Not sure what to make of it.
I wrote up a bit of a routine, a very, very loose one. The kiddo's really do much better with some direction. I'll admit that they have been watching way too many movies/cartoons. This really has to stop. So I've outlined the following 'routine' ( I type this out here so that I have a copy of it as well, paper copies have a way of disappearing):
8:00--get up
tidy bedrooms
put a load of laundry in
milk goats/feed dogs (Isabella)
play outside
wash up and get dressed in clean clothes
10:00--breakfast
room tidy up (assigned rooms)
girls take turns helping boys clean up their room
reboot laundry
11:30--school time:
Math -Saoirse with me
Isabella and Flannery with DVD math
Moira with the boys
Reading/Phonics/Spelling-Saoirse with me
Flannery next, with me
Moira on Math
Isabella with boys
Spelling/Handwriting-spelling with Isa and Moira
Handwriting for Saoirse and Flan
Isa and Moira journaling
Science/Nature Study--2-3 times a week with all girls
2:00--quick tidy, clean up school things
have snack/light lunch
reboot laundry
3:00--free time
5:00--help with dinner
put last load of laundry into drier (no more wash)
6:00--History with Dad
6:30--dinner
7:30--dinner clean up
put laundry away
room tidy
milk goats
family worship
games/reading
9:00--bed time
That is it in a nut shell. Seems all nice and 'pretty' on paper :-) Ha, ha! Today I had the girls clean up the bedrooms, which will make 'tidying' them up much easier. I am hoping that this will help us regain some normalcy. Today has been two full weeks since my fall. The good news is that I feel no pain as long as I am hanging on the couch. I can now walk the length of the house (with crutches) with minimal pain, *but* after that the pain starts building and building. I can't be up more than 2 or 3 minutes before my knee is very much uncomfortably painful. Oy. I feel like a broken record....I guess I just need to be patient. I'm not seeing how this is going to turn into something I can walk on with out crutches before the 6 weeks is up. It just seems that this recovery thing is going ever so slowly. It seems that every two days or so I tweak my leg/knee. Nothing major, but I seem to take two steps forward and one step back. I am sure you are all getting bored of my knee talk by now! Sorry about that.
Not much else going on...and I would really like to keep it that way!
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