Since the official start of summer vacation, we haven't done much. :) We have been busy running (well, Mom has anyway!) to appointments and errands,etc. The girls have really pitched in an have been helping a lot. May-May was stung on her foot by a bee at school about a month ago. The area became infected so she was put on antibiotics for that. Once she was over it, I didn't think much about it. She got sick about two weeks ago, I thought it was allergies at first but since it was on a Friday, we went ahead and made a trip to the pediatrician. I wanted to rule out strep or anything else that might cause us to end up in the ER over the weekend. Turns out it was an ear infection and her allergy meds weren't working so we put her on a combo of singulair and zyrtec. That hasn't been helping much either. Her pediatrician recommended we have a skin test done to see what she is allergic to since she got an infection from the bee sting. We had her appointment with the allergy specialist this week and I was SHOCKED to learn that she has asthma! The child never complained at all about having difficulty breathing and I never hear/heard any wheezing. It is just a mild case so I'm praying she will "grow out of it" as she gets older. She is on an inhaler for that and also a new nasal spray and antibiotics for INFECTED mosquito bites! I'm not fond of taking antibiotics so much but I do want her to be healthy and feel better.
I am planning to spend some time over the summer doing some fun things with the kids. Last night, I was up until after 1 a.m with the three big kids making prayer journals. We had a really fun time, laughing and just hanging out together with out any interruptions. Their creations turned out so cute!
I am so tired today though, and praying for the strength to get through the day and not be short and snappy with the kids from lack of sleep.
We had insulation blown into our attic this morning and a new a/c unit put in last week to accommodate for the new addition on the house. It is SOOOO much cooler in here, praise GOD! Summers have been miserable in here in the past.
I replanted my tomato plants this morning. I didn't do it right the first time. I had two in a pot, not good! (newbie gardener!) They look much happier now! :) Someone drowned my rose bush, so I had to replant that as well. It's teeny and was in a small bucket so I moved it to a bigger pot and tried to let it dry out some. I hope it comes bounces back. I love roses! My hostas are huge and have multiplied a lot since they were planted a couple of years ago. They are big pretty bushes now. We were doing container veggies but I think we need to graduate to a full garden bed. Our soil is mostly red clay so I think we will be using Granny's lush soil in her back yard. I hope, dh hasn't had time to get a tiller and get it tilled.
I hope you all had a pleasant Memorial Day weekend and remembered our soldiers, livng and dead. I do thank my wonderful Dh for his service to our country and the many other men and women who have and are serving every where.
It has been busy here the last week. DS started going to speech therapy twice a week now and will begin seeing a Child Therapist for behavioral issues next week. I’m praying it will be helpful to all of us. He has been having more anger outburst since adding speech therapy to his routine. It makes quick errands and busy days out hard for all of us. (I missed all of the services last Sunday and spent that time in the nursery with him b/c he got so upset and I couldn’t keep him quiet. It took a while to calm him down) Last Thursday was so hard, it was speech therapy day and I had lots to do afterwards. That evening, I spent his bath time crying b/ c I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. He thought it was funny, then after a while, he asked me if I was sad. I told him that Mommy was sad because I want him to be a happy little boy and not angry all the time. He just giggled and kept flapping his hands on the surface of the water. When you think of us, please pray.
Monday, DD3 was stung by a honey bee on her right foot. It was fine that evening. Tuesday it was a little swollen and a friend who is a nurse looked at it and told me what to watch for and what to give her to help with pain, etc. Wednesday morning it looked fine, no worse. That afternoon, I had to pick her up early b/c it hurt to bad to walk far on it. Thankfully, DD1 had an appointment to have a mole looked at so we were able to get DD3 worked in to be looked at. It’s infected. She had to have a shot, antibiotics and is home-bound to keep her foot propped 4-5 hours a day. Please pray for a quick recovery for her. DD1’s mole is also infected so she is on antibiotics as well. DD2 is having ear troubles so we’ve got to get that looked at. I thought it might be swimmers ear but nothing we try is working to help relieve the pain. Any ideas? We’ve tried peroxide, swimmers ear drops, ibuprofen, benadryl, nothing is helping.
DD4 is doing fine health-wise. She has had some problems lately with jealousy and that is making potty learning hard but she is finally making progress, PTL! I prayed over the situation with her and asked for creativity and wisdom and the Lord has provided! I finally got panties on her without many tears. For some reason, she was afraid of them, now she is just afraid of the potty! That is my praise today! I don’t want to force her but I feel that it’s really time for her to potty learn and I know that she is capable of holding it and going when she feels the need, she just doesn’t *want* to do it.
DH’s 35th birthday was y/day, I made him a coconut cream pie, his favorite, and we sang Happy Birthday to him. I had planned to grill burgers since he likes to do that but our evening was so busy and stressful with doctor appointments and errands that he wanted sandwiches. So, tonight we’ll have his birthday dinner. His mom and our neighbor, Marie, will be joining us.
It has been a busy day and a long time since 5:30 a.m. I haven't been home long. Today was Jenna Kate's two month check up. She is up to 7 lbs 10 oz! I'm so happy about that! She has gained 10 oz since last week. Today was our first visit with our new pediatrician. I have heard really great things about him and one thing I like is for a doctor to take up time with you and answer all of you questions. He did just that. I am sure we were in there close to 40 minutes. I received more information from him about Asperger's than I did from our previous pediatrician and the doctor that diagnosed him, combined! I got some new information and I hope to get more answers soon. We were referred to a clinic in the Capitol City and was told it could take months to get in so I'm going to set up an appt there as soon as I can. I was also given hope that we could go on to successfully breast feed exclusively! I'm so happy about that too. I do want what is best for the baby, not just convenience, but it's hard to bottle feed and multi task at the same time! You can't wear your baby and bottle feed, at least I haven't found a way to do that comfortably.
I received two books in the mail y/day, from my Secret Sister so I want to tell you Thank You! So much. I know I will enjoy the books and I appreciate you, knowing that you are lifting up my needs that I've mentioned here. The titles are: A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller and Hope Again When Life Hurts and Dreams Fade by Charles Swindoll.
It is soooo cold here! I love winter. Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons. I love being able to bundle up and be warm in my comfy clothes. We thought surely we would get some snow from the system that moved through but we didn't. It has been several years since we've seen snow this far south. One of my dear friends did manage to get an inch or so, her girls loved playing in it and built their first snow man. :)
Yesterday, it was raining and 35*, the snow was about a half hour to the north of us. Today, on our way to church, it was FREEZING cold. Sunny and 32*. Humph. It has since warmed up and is now 42*, still chilly but at least the sun is shining!
All of the kids are well. DH is well, and now I have been feeling the start of a cold. :( Maybe it is just the change in weather and will go away quickly.
I have had a hectic week. It has been a good one, but still a little busy and stressful. I thought surely that I could handle a few diaper orders. I opened a new set of customs two weeks ago. My first custom opening since September/October. What in the world was I thinking?!? I have had a hard time (harder than usual) getting the orders filled and shipped. It has become very obvious to me that I can no longer do it. It breaks my heart to close the business, but I feel that this is what the Lord wants for now. I need to spend this time nurturing our little ones and taking care of our home. It seems that since our son's diagnosis of Aspergers back in the summer, that we have had challenges. So, I am closing my store for now. I will have more time to focus on the needs of my son and homeshooling him and taking care of the other little ones. Jenna-Kate has had some weight gain issues, but PTL she is finally gaining some weight now. At two months, she is up to 7 pounds.
I am looking forward to the week ahead and to what God has in store for us.
I'm going to track back a little as I share because I need prayer in this matter. When I was expecting our last blessing, my OB was concerned that she wasn't gaining weight. He was surprised at her birth when she weight 6 lbs 6 oz. We were too! She did lose a significant amount of weight in the following weeks, getting as low as 5 1/2 pounds. I was told to supplement with 2 oz of formula once a day after nursing because my milk didn't have sufficient calories to help her grow. As you can imagine, I felt guilty. I went for my WIC appointment last week only to discover that the two ounces at one feeding wasn't enough. She was only one ounce heavier than her birth weight. :*( This happened over a three week period of time. That made me feel even more guilty. Why isn't Mommy's Milk good enough? I really wanted to breast feed her exclusively. Now we are supplementing every feeding with 2 ounces of forumula and she has gained nine ounces, she's now weighing in a 7 pounds even at two months old. I'm glad she's getting what she needs in order to grow but in my heart, I'm still a little sad. I am willing to do everything neccessary to help her but I am hoping to exclusively breast feed later on but her doctor says that's not possible. Please, if you have any experience with this & have any advice to offer, contact me. I would love it if you would pray for my milk production (that sounds funny!) and for my baby.
This past week has been spent by:
*Keeping up with the and
*Working on orders when I have empty arms (nap time)
*Soccer four evenings out of the week
*Starting back with my secretarial position at church
*Working on my blog when I can (which has been today mostly)
*Just keeping up with the in general!
It has been super busy and I've been super tired when it's time to rest in the evenings.
We are a Christian Family desiring to raise our children with the primary focus of Training their Hearts. "I have no greater joy, than to hear my children walk in truth..." III John 1:4
He just giggled and kept flapping his hands on the surface of the water. When you think of us, please pray. 
For some reason, she was afraid of them, now she is just afraid of the potty! That is my praise today! I don’t want to force her but I feel that it’s really time for her to potty learn and I know that she is capable of holding it and going when she feels the need, she just doesn’t *want* to do it.
I haven't been home long. Today was Jenna Kate's two month check up. She is up to 7 lbs 10 oz! I'm so happy about that! She has gained 10 oz since last week. Today was our first visit with our new pediatrician. I have heard really great things about him and one thing I like is for a doctor to take up time with you and answer all of you questions. He did just that. I am sure we were in there close to 40 minutes. I received more information from him about Asperger's than I did from our previous pediatrician and the doctor that diagnosed him, combined! I got some new information and I hope to get more answers soon. We were referred to a clinic in the Capitol City and was told it could take months to get in so I'm going to set up an appt there as soon as I can. I was also given hope that we could go on to successfully breast feed exclusively! I'm so happy about that too. I do want what is best for the baby, not just convenience, but it's hard to bottle feed and multi task at the same time! You can't wear your baby and bottle feed, at least I haven't found a way to do that comfortably. 
and 
in general!
