Cold Cereal

I don't normally eat cold cereal.... my blood sugar can't really take it.
Really it's worse than Chinese food; I am hungry about the same time I finish eating it.

But this morning I found some value to it.....
I usually get to eat cold food anyway, so when it took me an hour to eat a bowl of cereal, it wasn't bad that it was cold! Nothing like cold eggs! Ick!

"Wash your hands with soap AND water!"

My husband used to think I was crazy.

"Why do you always emphasize the water part?" he'd ask.
"Isn't it the soap that should need it?"

"No." I reply, "Trust me, the water needs it!"

Tonight I hear him speaking to our (almost) 4 year old son,
"Use some water too! Not just soap!!!"

Me, Crazy? Maybe not after all.

A Science lesson from my three year old

As we were talking the other day, I told my children I was serious.
My three year old son says: "You're a cirrus cloud if you're serious, Mom."

Needless to say the serious passed quick as a cirrus cloud!

just hafta whine

Ok this is much more of a vent than anything.

Where I live, I cannot fit a dryer in my laundry room, so we have a laundry line. We share that line with our elderly neighbor and with a family, both of whom have dryers.
Today I have 3 or so loads worth of clothes, that will take up all of the 5 lines available and one of my neighbors is using 3 of them! I was so bummed!
Here I am with 2 loads in my arms, wet and heavy, when I see that I cannot hang up most of what I've washed. And I don't have the option to shove it all in a dryer. To use a dryer I have to pack all my stuff, myself and my 4 kids in a car and drive to some other place, often paying to use it there; all the while accomplishing nothing of what I planned to do at home!

Ok with that off of my chest, I'll move forward.

edited 3 hours later

So after my whining and complaining was done....
I continued to get done other things I planned for the day, and saw that my neighbor had taken in her laundry. I was able to hang mine out.
In the process, I realized that she has just as much right to use the line as I do, and that she is more considerate than I as she didn't leave her laundry up all day, but took it down as soon as it was dry.

Moral of the story....
whenever you point the finger at someone else 3 are pointing back at you!!!
Introspect a little and see if you aren't as guilty as the person bothering you; you may find, like I did, you are more guilty than the other.

"5 minutes late, dead along side the road"

Quote my Mom about how quickly we jump to bad conclusions.

Today I didn't get my usual afternoon call from my honey, who needed to get gas and stop by a parts store before returning home. Usually when there are after work stops he calls on his way, no such call.
Worry starts to set in.
Finally I prayed for an answer in 15 minutes, or I call him, and set a timer thinking I'd stop worrying.
I should know me better!
Shaking, I prayed again, at two minute intervals, to be delivered from negative thoughts, taking each one captive, but, sadly, not before allowing them to influence me.
Please, LORD, help me to be ruled by You and not by my fears!
**Ding**
Deap breath.
I called,
"Honey?"
**Sigh**
"You'll be home soon then.
I Love You!"

Nothing like a vision of life without the one you love, even if a breif nightmare, to remind you of their worth in your own life. And to make sure you let them know, while you can.

first words?

By now you probably believed we fell off the face of the earth.

Our little Aliyah is now 9 months old! I can't believe it has gone this fast.
She can say mama and dada to the corect party and keykey, which is more of a whisper, she says when chasing our poor kitty. :0)

The other day she was standing next to her oldest sister, Ysabella (7 3/4 years) and she said a word after which her sister said, "Mommy! She said 'Bach' like the composer Bach!"
I thought, "Wow! How many 7 year olds would think Bach and not bock-bock like a chicken?"

Anyway,
wanted to share that and make an appearance.
:0)

It's about time

Aliyah had surgery on her right kidney on November 8th.

Everything went well and, now that we have a little water under the bridge, we believe that the kidney is functioning.
But then there's the left side. It has continued to grow and is now "moderate to severe" hydronephrosis.
At our last appt. on the 11th of December, Dr requested another Isotope Renal Scan (nuclear test) and follow up appt....... before Christmas!
Well, so much for that! The appt. people are unable to get us in until mid-January so far and that is without the follow up appt with Dr afterward.
She seemed a little ticked when I was asking about all of the details and how they were not what DR asked for, but that's my job right. Not to tick her off, but to keep up on the details of my child's health!?! Right?

It is possible that she will need surgery on the left side. Bummer.
We will know more when we finally get the test done and read to us.
Thank you anyone out there praying for my baby.

to tick me off

It probably doesn't take much to tick me off, but yesterday someone really did!

I am trying to get all manner of thing together for my kiddos for while we are apart. Hubby and I leave today for Hollywood and Children's Hospital Los Angeles so that we will be on time for tomorrows surgery on our infant. This puts me in a particularly sensitive mood.

So as we finished up getting some things from our Library and are almost to our car, I notice that the car next to us is running. I look carefully to see if anyone is going to try to back out with out looking first, and notice that there is no one in the driver seat.
Upon further examination, I find that there is a 2 to 4 year old little girl strapped into a car seat, asleep and alone. The car is unlocked, running and (as we find out later) doesn't even have an alarm set to scare anyone off! I was fuming!!!!

I left my Mom in Love with the kiddos and the air running and went back into the library with the licence plate number. This caused a big uproar in the Library staff area, and I was glad not to be the only one outraged! On the way back in I was wondering what could/should be done and if I was just still a tattle tale from my youth.
The police were called, but the careless grandparent as this case was, got there first and left promptly. One of the staff told her "You can't leave a child alone in the car" and she said "I know" got in and left!

I don't know what will happen, if anything. But it is one of the most careless things I have seen!
Not only do several children die each year due to the heat (probably why the car was running) it seems that children are at a greater and greater risk of being abducted, horribly abused and murdered! Why not just give the child away! Leave her alone in a running vehicle, she may be abducted on accident when someone tries to steal the car.

This is a very important issue to consider. Often the responsible party has simply underestimated it's importance. Our kids are precious and it is a small inconvience to skip an errand or take them in with you, especially when compared to the consequences of carelessness.!

tough stuff

Life has been full lately.
Last week we had a funeral for Tony, a 1st birthday party for my nephew Isaiah, and a trip down to Children's Hospital for Aliyah Sunday to Monday.

Her test wasn't so hard for her, but the preps were! She needed an IV and it took 4 tries! She has 3 brusies! The cathiter was no picinic, but not as terrible as the IV! She was so worn out that she slept thru the whole test. Daddy and Mommy got to watch her light up the screen as she was radioactive.

She will need surgery. We will be back down at Children's to have that done next Wednesday.
It was a shock to be having it so soon! I thought I'd have a chance to process it before schedualing! She has to stay at least 2 nights and I will room in, but Daddy will stay at a hotel across the street.

I will be glad when all of this is over and she is healed!

Baby update

Our little Aliyah is 6 and a half weeks old.
We saw her specialist today.
He has ordered another test, an Isotope Renal Scan.
Her right kidney enlargement is what is of concern to the Dr.

He said he thinks she will need surgery. This test will give him more of an idea of what needs to be done.

Needless to say, I am nervous and worried. I am not ready to put my baby under the knife.
If this is what she needs, we will. But it will be a very difficult decision.

Oh, Lord grant us the wisdom to care for these blessings entrusted to us! Amen.

Happy Us Birthday

Today is our "birthday" AKA wedding anniversary.

My wonderful hubby has been a strength and blessing; we complete each other beautifully.

Happy birthday Honey!
I Love You!

just wondering

Can people hear you crying over a computer?

so much more

"We were meant to live for so much more"

Yesterday we were given the terrible news a dear friend, like a brother, commit suicide.

He must have been drunk to do it the way he did. In front of his fiance, on his knees in a room in their house, he shot himself in the heart. He hadn't acted as tho something was wrong, they ate dinner together Sunday night, cleared the dishes and he said, "I'm tired of living with the pain." (He had back surgery 6 years ago or so and had been living with pain since.) Then he went into the other room, got down on his knees, his fiance followed him so he told her leave. She said no, and he pulled the trigger anyway. That's the story we have heard.

It's so hard to grasp. I can't seem to bend my mind around this one.

Usually people wonder what they could've done
I don't feel that way since we are states away, but I do wish I knew more how to help the rest of the family!

If you are thinking of hurting yourself, please talk to someone!
Wheather or not you realize it, you'll be hurting more than just yourself.

Cute?

As I am schooling my 7 year old in Arithmatic, she is a little confused on a problem.
She always acts a little sulky when she doesn't understand something, so she is simply sitting.
I explain it to her and she begins to work quickly.
She says, "This is easy!"
Then leaning, giving me a hug she says,

"You are useful sometimes Mommy!"

In case you're still out there

I contemplated just stopping this silly nonsense..... but I feel compelled to at least complete the pregnancy updates.

On September 1, 2006, our daughter Aliyah Miechelle was born.
My first to debut before the due date, and in the afternoon! (usually we go to ER in the middle of the night)
STATS:
She was 7lbs. 6 oz.
20 in. long
head 12 3/4 in.
chest 12 1/2 in.
Time 1 pm PST

This was anothe fast one, and our DR, whose office is accross the street from the hospital, didn't make it in time. Another delivery that was truely blessed.

First the reception desk skipped the usual policy of waiting for paperwork before going to the Labor and Delivery ward. Then when our first nurse there was told they had no more beds in their triage and I'd have to wait in the waiting room, she found a free bed to check me.
At 7 cm. & 80% they got me a delivery room, tho I felt bad for the person who was going to get it and got "bumpped." We delivered shortly there after, maybe 15 minutes after getting the room.

Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her shoulders behind her neck, then down and around one of her feet. We were teasing about the acrobatics that must have been going on in there!
She has a head full of hair! Enough to do a little styling....my older daughtrs didn't have enough to style until they were a year old!!

She looks great and is doing well. At only 8 hours old they ran an ultrasound, which showed her right kidney is about twice the size it should be. Our Pediatric Urologist has ordered an X-ray of her bladder (tho it looks fine), he wants to check to see if it is leaking urine back to the kidney.
Then after this test we'll see him again and find out where we go from there. I have heard many cases of children with similar blockage or obstructions in the kidney simply out growing the problem. I am, of coarse, hoping for that!

Well, anyone left out there in cyberspace, I hope you are well.
Blessings!

To myself

I had been planning to write all the cute things that have been said/ done lately by my little ones. Like when pointing out that Buffalo Bill Cody lived to be 82 years old, and my 6 and 3/4 year old asked if that was older or younger than me!
But instead I opened my home page and read the headlines, and I now, depressed, am compelled to write about Andrea again.
Ms. Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity and will be committed to a mental institution until it is found that she is no longer a "threat."
Oh, those poor children!
I took the poll after the story which read: Do you agree? Yes, she was psychotic and thought she was saving her children; No, she knew what she was doing. After choosing No of coarse, it showed 63% of those polled agreed with me. I suppose that being in the majority doesn't make you right, but it did give me comfort that I am not the lone person crying for justice. There is no justice here, but in the end it will be served.
For now I will hold my babies.............
and cry for hers.

Rantings

I am always more emotional during a pregnancy, but there also seems to be plenty to get emotional over during that time.
This time it's the retrial of Andrea Yates and the beginings of a trial for Jessica's killer, John Couey, and all the terrible details attached to those cases.
As a mother of children near the ages of the Yates children, I cannot help but imagine how each one would have acted. The feelings of utter betrayal by the one person they were always supposed to trust. I cry and cannot sleep if that is prevelant in my mind. The things those children must have lived through in their last hours! When did we as a nation decide that commiting a crime was different if you have some sort of mental condition. Five precious little ones died and some how Andrea is able to claim "not guilty"!?! By no stretch of my imagination can I consider her not guilty! She told them "I just killed my kids."
Don't get me too wrong, I think she needs treatment while in jail, but I don't think she should have the chance to get out. If she has to live with the memories of her little ones struggling under her as she drown them, I say that is what you get for such behavior. I don't believe those are psychotic episodes as much as they are memories. It would perhaps be a psychotic episode had she never commit such a heinous injustice and was still seeing those things. As I tell my little ones everytime I have to explain why they can't watch something a friend can: what you put into your mind goes in and stays in. So it is your choice what you will have to live with in your mind. (and, of coarse, for now it is my choice for them.)
The idea that the police botched the investigation against John Couey really gets me too! Read about Jessica, how full of life and love she was. Then read of the "aledged" (tho confessed!) crimes against her by a man with a criminal history! A man who never should've been out of jail! It makes me sick to think of that sweet little girl bound and buried alive after being sexually assaulted. The horror of her last hours that we wish no one ever had to go through.

We should all be outraged by these crimes against our children! We should be taking action to protect the innocent, and to protect justice. There should be no "not guilty by reason of insanity" it should always be "guilty" first and "insane" second. We should be tougher on those criminals who offend repeatedly. We should realize that some crimes, like Martha Stewart's, are insignificant compared to Couey and Duncan. Why the GPS device for Martha's offense which harms no one physically and yet we continually let these preditors out with no tracking whatsoever or only tracking which is vouluntary!?! I know just about everyone has made that argument, but there is quite a bit of truth to it. We need to re evaluate what is important to us, and act accordingly.

The Specialist Appt

Well, we went to see a perinatologist on Friday as the DR we had an appt with got sick Thursday and they had to schedual us with his partner for a visit.

He said that in the realm of problems this is "highly fixable" and that in the grander scheme of things this isn't that bad. So with that said, her kidneys don't look good. They both probably have a kink in the ureters, the right one's being a worse kink as it is twice the size of the left. One kidney is working or both are able to work partially as the amniotic fluid is at the right level. This tells us that the fluid is being processed through her system and back out again; other wise it would be a low (or lower than normal) level. It seems to be isolated to her kidneys as everything else looks fine, so that is also a blessing.

What I need now is to talk to our Family Practicioner and set up our plan of action for post birth testing and possible treatment. We wont know what needs to be done treatment wise until we've seen another specialist and have other tests run, including an ultrasound after birth and contrast testing to tell functionality. Then there's the possibility of surgery. I have a call in to our Dr and we'll see if I get a call back this time, as the last two times I have called I haven't gotten a call back! Arg!

OB Appt

So I had my follow up ultrasound an OB appt. last week and have had either problems with blogger or with our computer since so this is my first chance to write.

The ultrasound showed that Aliyah's right kidney is dilated to twice the size of her left kidney, which is also enlarged slightly. What this means exactly I am not sure, and I never did research it so that I wouldn't worry (any more than I already do). We will be going to a Perinatologist (sp?) on Thursday, June 15th to have a 3D ultrasound and a second opinion. We'll see, I guess.

In other news....
Second grade is off to a pretty good start. She isn't fond of her English curriculum, but that's partly because she is having to learn to work independantly, and write more down. She is really letting her penmenship go today! She just really doesn't want to do the work, and doesn't realize yet that I am more stubborn than she is.
Math is actually going better than it was, but that's partly the begining of the year review stuff...she already knows all the answers.

My son made a lovely mess of water in their room on the floor which mildewed; I had figured in our heat it would dry fast enough not to matter. I was wrong, so I am trying my 3rd or 4th cleaner today to see if we can kill it. This means that they are not allowed to be in the room while it is drying and that is driving us all crazy!

We are trying to go camping next week, an annual trip :)
I am in the process of packing, washing, and packing some more.
As usual we are keeping pretty busy!
So I will write when I have more information on what the baby's kidney situation is like.

randomness

I couldn't think of any one thing I wanted to write about, so I decided to write about all the little things that come to mind.

Does everyone with a 2 year old have to bathe the child after every meal? This kid gets food everywhere! Sometimes I think it's just that he wants the bath. I don't remember this so much with my girls, so maybe it's a boy thing? I dunno.

My 6 year old has started writing notes all of the time. I get several daily and can count on one on my pillow for the night. Daddy gets one on his pillow too and sometimes there's one in the middle. This morning she wrote about having a lovely mommy and to have a nice last May day. Last nights had so many X's and O's! I read them to my hubby and I read XOXOXO as "KSO KSO KSO" so last night I just made the sound "KSO" several times and showed him the page!

We are officially finished with 1st grade, sniffle sniffle, who said she could grow up! And are all set for 2nd. She can't wait, but is so far enjoying this week off. She doesn't always enjoy time off. Something about not getting to start one of our new biographies for History, or work on a school work book that she wants to. I tell her there will be plenty of time to do it during school, PLAY on your time off.

My son hasn't been into so much mischief last week and this........so far.
He did have a boot in the bathroom sink this morning, but that is easy compared to all the mischeif of the week before last! He did just fall down and wanted an ice, so he grabbed a popsicle out of the freezer. Yeah, like mommy will let you have that at 10 am! Right.

I saw a "friend" who I am sure knew we are expecting, but was one of the ones I didn't really feel like telling. So I hadn't. I was asked the usual questions, but the one that stuck was 'are you excited?' At the time I was hot and tired and on the way to take my girls to a bathroom, so I probably didn't come across as excited, ya know. In my outlook all life is created to be eternal, and this is the begining of someone's eternity.... how can that not be exciting!?! We simply have very different outlooks on life.

Spent yesterday with my mother in love doing some laundry and hanging out. But I wonder everytime I am there if the bathroom soap doesn't want to wash off because of their water softener or if it's because it's dish soap? We had a nice visit, but probably spent too much time talking of friends we never see or hear from and I got to feeling bad.

I recently decided to read the book "Ninteen eighty four" and finished it off with watching the movie. The movie sucked. Really. It was so gappy that if you hadn't read the book you might be completely clueless as to what the movie was about. So I read "Make room! Make room!" and watched the movie, supposedly based on the book, "Soylent Green" and couldn't believe how far from the book it really was and how bad the acting.... ranked right up there with "Napolean Dynomite" on the bad acting! Neither book was wonderful, but classics compared to their movies!

We have a lovely tree, a mulberry. It bears terribly well and leaves tons of purple berries everywhere! I have little blck blotches all over my kitchen floor from themm being tramped in on shoes. I've decided to wait mopping until the berries are all gone. Should only be a couple of months. sigh.

Today I have to find my kitchen, again. yipee. no really, I mean that. And some time soon I should consider breakfast a little more seriously. I have my yucky pregnancy tea that I am choking down, but I guess I should get something else in there too.

So this is enough randomness. Time for food. Hope you're all well wherever you are.