Lunch Time Sillies

Just some pictures from our lunch time silly gang. It's impossible to get a 'normal' picture of Ava! She always has to make a silly face. I got these food trays from a thrift store for a dollar a piece. We've been using them for lunch and the kids think they are fun.

 Don't let Evelyn fool you. She wasn't really eating, we just pretend she does. We try anyway.

Snakes

Every time Erik goes out to work in the yard he finds a snake for Blake. This is one of the biggest ones he's found. Blake played with it so much that the snake threw up a great big toad! It was so gross but Blake thought it was pretty cool!

Dancing in the Rain

My pastor's wife gave this plaque to me for my birthday. As soon as I read it I had tears streaming down my face. There is so much truth to this. You can't wait for the storm to pass to enjoy life. I'm trying. Some days I fail miserably and end up rolling in the mud puddle, other days I'm singing and dancing. But I'm always thankful for a new day with a fresh start to get up and dance again. I can't even tell you how much something as simple as this means to me. I look at it every day and just keep going. 

Never again

Note to self. One baby with GERD is enough to completely cure me of any future baby fever. I never knew how miserable it could be having a GERDling. God has given me a new level of compassion for anyone going through physical problems with a child. I thought we went through a lot with Blake, well this takes the cake. So much harder. Just needed a place to empty my brain for a few minutes.

Sprinkles and Shopping

Ava won the coloring contest at Wal-Mart  back in March. She won a whole Easter basket full of really yucky candy. Stuff that I just couldn't bring myself to let her have. She did have some of it, but there was a bunch of stuff that this semi-crunchy mama just couldn't do. So we made a bargain that she was thrilled about. I would take her out for ice cream. We went tonight to The Big Dipper and she got her cone with sprinkles. The sprinkles were a very important factor in this bargain! Then we went shopping. I really had a good time just spending time with just her. One thing is true- she talks a lot! I love this little girl!

Tadpoles

I took the kids for a walk a few weeks ago and we found a bunch of tadpoles in a puddle next to the road. They had so much fun watching them and of course wanted to bring some home with us. So I let them put a bunch in our water jug and we brought them home. Erik took the kids back to the mud puddle a few days later and got a bunch more. We filled 2 saucer sleds with some water, gravel, and clumps of sod and put the tadpoles in them. Several have died but most of them have lived. It has been fun watching them transform into little toads. 

Campfire

A friend of mine has encouraged me to get back into writing so I'm going to give it another go. Life has been so difficult the past 7 months! Evelyn. That's all I need to say!

Today was a good day! She actually ate several times throughout the day while awake, with minimal convincing! I'm still in shock. It's been almost 4 weeks of feeding refusal again and I think today was finally a turning point. She has been on her new medication (Lansoprazole) for 9 days now. I think it's starting to work! I was terrified to put her on it. TERRIFIED! But I have exhausted all alternative treatments and nothing else is working. We have tried: chiropractic care, muscle testing, Total Elimination Diets, homeopathics, probiotics, prebiotics, Mylanta, Zantac, I think we've tried it all. And my baby was still not eating unless she was asleep. Finally I broke down and went to the doctor and asked for a PPI. It sat in my fridge for a week before I couldn't handle life the way it was for one more minute. I had to give the scary PPI a try. We are on day 9 and I don't want to jinx us, but I think it's kicking in. She is eating!

Life for everyone has been on hold now for 4 weeks because of this feeding aversion. My life has been completely consumed by trying to feed her, pumping when she won't eat, and trying to bottle or dropper feed her. When I'm not trying to feed her I'm reading about what to do to help her. My other three kids, I feel so bad for them. They've been lost in the shuffle for too long. I just couldn't handle anymore and so they've been watching movie after movie for weeks now. Finally today I was able to spend quality time with them. Oh how I've missed them. I took them to the playground and played with them for well over an hour. They are so sweet! I'm so excited to have our life back. I hope and pray that this continues.

There is one lesson I'm really learning through this; take advantage of every day you have with your family. Don't assume you will have one more day to do that fun thing, or to make that memory with them. DO IT TODAY! I was not intentional about building memories and having fun with my children. Until the time came that I couldn't. I mean I absolutely could not spend time with them for 4 weeks in a row. I have missed my 3 other kids so much these past 4 weeks. I am determined to make it a point every day to have fun in some way with my kids. Laugh with them, sit and talk with them, play a game of Operation or Candy Land, take a walk, do whatever, do something. When something is taken away from you it really makes you realize how blessed you were and how easy it is to take things for granted.

Tonight we had a camp fire in the back yard. We have had s'more stuff sitting in the cupboard for over a week now just waiting for that perfect night to use them. The kids keep begging for a camp fire. We keep saying not tonight; it's too cold, it's too late, we're too tired, we have to get up early, it wasn't a good day, etc. Well, tonight we had a campfire! I don't care anymore if it's not the perfect scenario. We just need to do it! The kids had a blast. We spent an evening of quiet time just being with each other. Then they were off to bed by 9 pm. I put Evie down for bed and now it's my turn for some 'me time'.