I'm going to SCREAM!!!!

I am so sick of this SICKNESS!! Go away!! and dont ever come back you terrible terrible bug!

I guess this is payback for missing the bug completely last year. Maybe next year will be sick free (cup is half full). ;)

Sean has pink eye now! REALLY bad. Much worse than what Ryan had. Ry was all cleared up at the beginning of the week so I'm not sure if this is from him or not. But where ever it came from, he's got it.

Yesterday night we made it to Ladies night at church (the men/boys all went bowling). We had a guest Missionary come speak to us about leading someone to Christ. It was really informative. Elizabeth had a miserable time though. I dont know what was up with her but she just SCREAMED whenever anyone came up to her. She's never done that before, she usually greets people with smiles. She must have just decided she doesnt like "strangers" now I guess. Not that any of them were strangers *shrugs*.

After the men all came back, I noticed Sean's eye was bright red (wasnt like that when we left). We got home and checked it out, sure enough, gunk all over. We put some of that medicine that we got from the doctor (we never used for Ryan) on Sean before bed. He hated it! No suprise, that gel stuff is nasty. This morning he woke up, now both eyes infected and he's so miserable.

I did some research about treating pink eye and apparently one very affective way (and painless) is using breastmilk. Well, I got some of that!! Apparently the antibodies in it attack and kill the bacteria in pink eye - amazing! We're giving it a try. We didnt tell Sean that's what it is. I just sterilize an eye dropper and drop it in his eye that way. We just tell him it's special drops. LOL And though he hates having either type of "medicine" he prefers the special drops over the gel, so that's good.

I know it sounds wierd but I'm not suprised. You can use breastmilk for so many things, it's amazing! It clears up pink eye (amazingly enough something that babies get so often and easily), diaper rash, any kind of scratches/boo boos (works like neosporin), and so many other things. What a wonderful God we have that made something so simple but so wonderful in so many ways!

Of course, now we're not sure how this pink eye is going to affect his doctor appointment on Monday.

Sit down and have a cup of tea with me

Go on! Go fix yourself a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and come back so I can fill you in on what's been going on the past few days.

(waits patiently... takes a little sip of her freshly brewed tea...)

Signs of spring are showing up everywhere, and I tell you what, I cant wait until it gets here. I'm tired of sick season! Did I tell you Ryan had pink-eye over the weekend? He's finally over that and back in school but UGH! Thankfully none of the rest of us got it. The doc gave us antibiotics but we didnt need to give them to him. It was clearing up fine on its own.

OH! but it's never a dull moment in our household. Dennis walked through the door the other day with a somber look on his face. I said, "what wrong?" (thinking OH POOP!) As he was driving home, in his "new" 1980-something Mercedes, the muffler fell off. ARGH! What is it with us and getting a 2nd car then just a few short weeks later something catastrophic happens to the car? We found a Mercedes mechanic in town so he's going to take it over there and hopefully get some help. That is if they can understand him. LOL

Today we finally were able to get the process started on getting Elizabeth her US birth certificate and passport. Unfortunately we wont be able to start her Social Security card until we get all that stuff back. I'm bummed because we cant do our taxes until we get her SSN. Oh well, good thing they give us an extension to do all that while overseas.

I know I'm REALLY behind on posting pictures of Ella. I just have been busy with one crazy event after another. I have 2 pictures to tide you over though ;). They are the pictures they took of her for her passport. The first one, she was still sleeping:



But fortunately for us, the photo wasnt the right size... you know how picky passport photos are.

This next one, she just woke up and was in a wonderful mood. (notice the shirt, and what it says ;) )


She's such a cutie chubster! I cant wait until her doctor's appointment at the end of the month to see how much she weighs.

Tomorrow Dennis has off work so besides going to the auto mechanic, we're going to try and go to a Bazaar that's being held on base. Should be fun. :) Then tomorrow night is Ladies night at church (the men/boys are going bowling). I'm praying everyone stays healthy and cars stay functioning so we can go.

Well my cup of tea is empty and the laptop keeps crashing so I guess I should get going. Enjoy your weekend! I hope it's sunny and warm where you are.

Doctor's appointments and other news!

Sean had his doctor appointments on Friday and today to run some tests on his stomach. They had him drink several different types of drinks testing fructose, bacteria and today was lactose. After drinking the stuff he had to blow into a tube several times over a period of a few hours. All of the tests have come back negative. They also did a sonogram to make sure all his "insides" are functioning properly - they are ;). So all that means, basically, we still arent sure why he's been throwing up.

They wanted to do the MRI today. They sprung that on Dennis just as they were about to leave but we werent prepared for that to happen today. It has been rescheduled for next Monday (the 16th). UGH! I cant wait until all this is over with! I was secretly hoping they'd find something today, just so we'd know what was wrong and wouldnt have to do the MRI. I'm dreading that! I dont want him to be drugged, I dont want him to have to go into a big scary machine. (obviously I'm keeping the "big scary" part to myself and not telling him that)

(changes position in seat like a tv news reporter facing camera 2)

In other news, we have decided that we are going to give homeschooling a try for next year and there after. This decision has been weighing heavy on my mind lately. After all that we have been through with Sean, it's really caused me to consider homeschooling the boys. Trust me, I havent taken this matter lightly at all! Every school day the boys travel for a total of 2 hours to and from school. Right away, when they get home, I have to shuttle Ryan either outside or upstairs so that Sean can start his homework. By the time he gets his homework done, it's pretty much dinner time. After dinner, they're lucky to have an hour to play before we need to start getting ready for bed - which of course needs to be nice and early since they have to get up at the crack of dawn to catch the bus. There's barely any time for play, especially for Sean. Extra-curricular type activities are non-existant for us... there's just no time. Recently we've transferred Sean to a different cubscout den so he can start going again but those nights are even more hectic. Going to church on Weds nights? not even possible, and Sunday nights is extremely difficult. Their Biblical education is very little.

My biggest concerns about homeschooling have been:

• socialization - this is a big one, especially for Ryan. He can be very shy and going to school has helped him come out of his shell. Unfortunately some of the things that have come out of his "shell" lately are less than desirable.
• am I going to be able to teach them what they need to know? This is the scariest part for me, especially as hard as Sean and I butt heads sometimes.
• my own personal time - I have to admit, it was nice having the day to myself sometimes. Go to the store without kids in tow, etc

Thankfully, God has provided and has addressed my concerns.

• Socially, the boys will not be lacking. We have church, cubscouts (Ryan will be able to join with the next school year) and there's also a very large homeschool group here on base. They meet for P.E., field trips, get-togethers, etc. Plus homeschooling will free up time for us so that we can do more things. Sean has expressed interest in Soccer.
• Can I teach them? A friend at church also homeschools her children and she has been there for me to answer my millions of questions about the curriculum. The one that I'm leaning towards using looks really great! The parent's guides are simplified to the point that it even tells you what to teach and what questions to ask.
• My own time.... this has been probably the biggest struggle because basically it's an excuse. Do I really do all that much on my own? No, not really. Half the time I sit on my butt bored, waiting for the boys to come home. When I do go out, usually we are doing it as a family. I'm just being realistic.

The boys are actually excited - and yes, they are aware that homeschool does not mean they can play video games all day. lol Funny thing, the school sent home a paper for all the students saying they need to know by the 16th who will be enrolled next year and who will not. Sean pointed to the paper last night and said, "mom, make sure you check NO [he will not be in school] on this because we are going to be homeschooled, right?" LOL

I know I've blabbered quite on about this but I wanted to present our decision fully. I havent been very vocal about it because I wanted to be sure this is what we want to do before I said anything. I think homeschool will bring us closer as a family and to God and we'll be able to see more of Germany and Europe while we are here. :) Field trips are always fun! ;)

Now please pick your jaw up off the floor at the thought of me and the idea of homeschooling. HAHA!!!

Update on Sean

What should have been a quick doctor's appointment, maybe take some blood or at the very least come back another day for another appointment turned into a crazy day! At least Sean got to finally see a doctor for this strange nausea/vomiting thing though.

This morning he had his doctor's appointment on base with the military clinic. When I described Sean's symptoms (throwing up in the morning, no other "sickness" symptoms, etc) the doc was truely baffled. He said the first thing that comes to mind, since Sean mentions "yucky tasting burps", esp the morning after a spaghetti meal, is acid reflux. He prescribed some Zantac (antacid stuff) for him but also put in a referral for him to see a specialist in town. So I head over to Tricare, they handle all the stuff to get our doc in town since they can speak the language, and she comes out and says you need to go over to the hospital right now. They want to see him right now in case it's something serious. I'm totally not prepared for this! I dont even have his booster seat in the car (the school is literally next door to the clinic, so I just walked him over). Thankfully Dennis was on that same base today and his car had the boosters in it. So I drove over to where his car was parked (with Sean just buckled in) and grabbed the booster and away to the hospital we go.

The parking at this hospital is HORRID and the spaces... well let's just say they're not made for American sized cars LOL. We finally get into the children's hospital (kinderklink) and see the doctor there. He decides that he doesnt want Sean to take the Zantac and he wants him to wait so he can run tests on him. One of the tests being an MRI *gasp*. I have 2 appointments set up to bring him in next week (Mar 6 and 9th) and they're going to do tolerance tests on his tummy - he's going to drink some strange drink - different one each day - and then they will do their tests. The MRI hasnt been set up yet. I'm definitely going to need Dennis's help with that one. Sean will have to be sedated for it and he will have to stay overnight. The doctor said that he wants to do an MRI because sometimes vomiting in the morning is a lone symptom you might see if someone has a brain tumor............ a WHAT?!!? He says that it's unlikely but still, we should check to be sure. SIGH! If it's not one that's got me worrying, it's the another...

By the time we were all done there, it was after 1pm and poor Sean was starving for lunch so I took him over to the PX and got him some Pizza Hut. Now he's back home playing his Lego StarWars video game. haha! What a day!!!

Quick post

Just a quick post to let you know we're still here!

It's been a busy couple of weeks. We just had Dennis's family come out and visit. We all had a wonderful time! I'm so glad we got to share some of Germany with them... not to mention introducing Elizabeth! ;)

We're all doing great here. I'm feeling much better from my last post- thank you all for your encouraging words and help! A friend sent me a wonderful website that I have been devouring ever since. It's called aboverubies.org, if you're a mother, grandmother, friend of a mother or eventually want to me a mother, I HIGHLY recommend this site. It has been such a comfort to me and an encouragement.

Worry...

There's a message board I have been reading since I was pregnant, I mostly just read since it's a very large group, but all of us had due dates in the month of Dec 08. Within the last 2 weeks or so there have been 3 babies that have died, two of them were from SIDS. Maybe it's post-partum-whatever but I am going insane with worry!

For the first time ever, Ella's fallen asleep and stayed asleep without being in the swing or in my arms. Of course I dont get to enjoy it at all, I keep going over to check if she's breathing every few minutes. It's just not fair, this SIDS! You can follow all the "rules" they say to follow, but there's nothing for sure that you can do to prevent it.

I dont want to hear anything or read any more about SIDS! I wish I could just remove myself from the internet. I've already removed myself from that message board for fear of bringing up the page and seeing yet another loss.

Please say a prayer for those families that lost... and maybe a small prayer of protection for ours and other families with babies.

Catching up...

I know I havent been very good at keeping this up the past few weeks but here's a quick "catch-up" so you know what's going on in the ol' household.

Elizabeth is now 6weeks old and is smack dab in the middle of a growth spurt, which means all she wants to do is eat eat eat. She's doing really well though. She smiles all the time now and even has this little cough laugh she does when she gets excited.

Mommy, on the other hand, feels like she's losing her mind. I think I've been doing too much reading on the internet about SIDS. I'm going crazy with worry about it. What can you do but pray and hope that God keeps her protected from that awful.... whatever it is.

Speaking of worry... Sean has been getting sick off and on for the past few months. I've mentioned it before, about him waking up in the morning and just being sick to his stomach but he's not sick, no fever, no tiredness or general sickness other than vomiting. He had a problem similar to this when he was little, if he would fall asleep before getting dinner the next morning he would throw up. I took him to the doctor (back then) and she said it was allergies - post nasal drip - and gave me Zantac. But NOW, he's waking up in the morning, had plenty to eat the night before, and is getting sick. We thought it was a wierd stomach flu at first, then when it continued, we tried changing his foods - making sure he didnt have too much sugar at night. We also tried making sure his meals were more well rounded but still he's been getting up in the morning - not always, but enough to worry us - feeling nauseous and eventually getting sick. So finally, we decided, he needs to see a doctor, there's something wrong here. We got an appointment for last week, got a late start heading into the appointment and (you're not going to believe this) the clinic CANCELS out appointment because we were more than 5mins late!!! Furious!!!!!! Parking is HORRID on this base, there's never anywhere to park, so Dennis dropped Sean and I off so he could drive around and find a spot. I came out of the clinic to tell him they cancelled the appointment so he took Sean in and told me to drive and find a spot. Of course the poor low ranking guy behind the desk couldnt do anything about recovering Sean's appointment. The best they could do for us was have Dennis call the nurse advice line (a 24hour phone line tricare offers) and tell us to reschedule. Even the nurse on the other side of the line thought it was rediculous that they cancelled our appointment. She ran Dennis through some questions about Sean and pretty much couldnt come up with any reason why this might be happening but we should get him to see a doctor (yah, thanks).

She said, maybe that it's stress induced. I dont know, maybe, he is a stress monster. He'll come downstairs after he's sent to bed and come up with some crazy things he's worried about. Like the other night he came down worrying that he wasnt going to get all his homework done by Sunday (first time the teacher gave them homework over a weekend) and that was on Friday, he was worrying. Or another one, one night on the way home we saw a police car in town pulled off to the side with his blue lights on. Sean came downstairs worrying about burglars a few nights later and we asked him where this was coming from, he mentioned seeing the police car. His imagination just explodes everything. He also has been having night terrors again. He really started having those while in Maryland but now they have graduated that he'll be fully asleep get up out of bed and come downstairs looking for us screaming and crying. We just have to sit with him until he finally wakes up on his own. That scares me that he wanders around the house now, I worry about him going outside, so we put the chain lock on the door now. I just dont know what to do with our poor boy. Writing this all out makes me think, hmm maybe his sickness is stress induced. I just dont know how to make it better for him.