10 minutes to perfect parenting. Sounds like a book I'd buy. Unfortunately, it's just not a reality. But, I have discovered that I can really make some headway in good parenting in just 10 minutes.
Claire and I have started a new "tradition". Refer to earlier posts if you don't know my love of "tradition, tradition!" (Great, I have that song stuck in my head now!)
Anyway, Claire and I have started a new tradition. Every night, right before I tuck her in, we do several pages of Brainquest questions together. It only takes 5 - 10 minutes, depending on how tired I am. But the reward is amazing! We sit, all cuddled up in her bed, and I quiz her. The cool part, we have a great time. She is so smart, I actually am shocked sometimes when she throws out the right answer. She loves it when she gives me an answer and I have to flip the page to see if she's right (sorry, I don't remember all 4 parts of a green plant!) We laugh, learn and bond. I have more of a connection with my daughter in those 10 minutes at 8:00 at night, than I do all day long. In those 10 minutes, she knows I love her and care about her and just how important she is to me. In those 10 minutes, I feel good. I feel loved. I feel right.
I used to think it was so hard to be a good mom. Well, I still think that! But, for the most part, I allow my expectations to make be believe that it's hard to be a good mom. My kids love me. They want me to pay attention to them, remember what they tell me, spend a little time with them, and occasionally go out of my way for them. That's not really too much to ask. If I can slow down just long enough to do that, every now and then, we're going to be okay!
Now, if I can just get Avery to stop sticking her tongue out at people I'll be doing alright!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
One more
I forgot one of my all time favorite Avery quotes....
"Something stinks in here!"
Said loud and clear just about everytime
we walk into just about anywhere!
we walk into just about anywhere!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Out of the mouth of my babe.....
Avery is forever saying the cutest little things so I wanted to take a moment and jot some of them down before she's all grown up and not being nearly so cute........."Mama, why you lookin' so strange?"
"My tummy's not feelin' so well"
When asked why she isn't doing whatever it is she is suppose to be, "cause I'm not feeling so well today."
When asked, "Avery, can you go potty in the potty chair" or "Avery, can you carry this in for me" or "Avery, you don't need that pacy, put it away" or "Avery, can you help mommy?"
Answer, "I'm just a little girl mommy. I'm not a big girl yet."
"I'm shakin' my booty!"
"Why that guy doin' that?" To any person, male or female, that is doing anything around her. Including family members and friends of which she knows their name.
"I workin' on my 'puter mama. You go away!"
"Shoo! Shoo!" When she's doing something she shouldn't and I walk in the room.
"Go away mama, go away! You go out!" When she's doing you know what in her diaper and I walk by.
"What you talkin' about mama?" When she walks in and I'm on the phone. Sounds just like "what you talkin' 'bout Willis?"
Sweet, sweet Avery. Music to my ears. Except this one,
"Mooommmmm, I so mad!"
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Jump Rope for Heart
It's that time of year again. Jump Rope for Heart is here!
Jump Rope for Heart is a fundraiser to benefit the American Heart Association.
As you know, Ella was born with Pulmonary Stenosis, so heart disease is a subject near and dear to our "hearts"!
This year both girls have the opportunity to participate in the Jump Rope event. Which means, we get to raise double the money, right? No, we just want them both to have the opportunity to learn a little bit about giving and a whole lot about Heart Health!
If you would like to donate to one or both girls I have attached the links to there Heartquarters page. I will also be sending out emails with the link attached.
Thanks again supporting the American Heart Association and Claire and Ella's Jump Rope for Heart efforts.
Claire: http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR/JumpforHeart/JRFH-MWA?px=1860796&pg=personal&fr_id=1284&et=bRFJJSif3R3ZQVuzku73vA..&s_tafId=3919
Ella: http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR/JumpforHeart/JRFH-MWA?px=1860765&pg=personal&fr_id=1284&et=AHBfxZNUE21BATVPrpxBbw..&s_tafId=3920
Blessings
Jump Rope for Heart is a fundraiser to benefit the American Heart Association.
As you know, Ella was born with Pulmonary Stenosis, so heart disease is a subject near and dear to our "hearts"!
This year both girls have the opportunity to participate in the Jump Rope event. Which means, we get to raise double the money, right? No, we just want them both to have the opportunity to learn a little bit about giving and a whole lot about Heart Health!
If you would like to donate to one or both girls I have attached the links to there Heartquarters page. I will also be sending out emails with the link attached.
Thanks again supporting the American Heart Association and Claire and Ella's Jump Rope for Heart efforts.
Claire: http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR/JumpforHeart/JRFH-MWA?px=1860796&pg=personal&fr_id=1284&et=bRFJJSif3R3ZQVuzku73vA..&s_tafId=3919
Ella: http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR/JumpforHeart/JRFH-MWA?px=1860765&pg=personal&fr_id=1284&et=AHBfxZNUE21BATVPrpxBbw..&s_tafId=3920
Blessings
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Mystery solved!
I am happy to report that our medical mystery is solved!
Ella has been diagnosed with a couple separate conditions, both of which are easily treatable!
First, she has what is called Functional Abdominal Pain. That pretty much means she has a "sensitive tummy". If she gets anxious, worried, busy, stressed, excited, pretty much any extreme emotion, it settles in her stomach. This causes very severe, and very real, stomach pain. This is not terribly uncommon, in fact her GI specialist has suffered from the same condition all his life.
We are going to be treating her with a prescription medication and a healthy (whole grain, whole foods) diet for 1 year and then see how she is doing. We are confident that this will help alleviate most of her pain and, with all of our help, we will help her learn to manage the pain that does come along.
If you want more info, check this out: http://www.gi.org/patients/gihealth/functionalab.asp
Second, she has been diagnosed with Hypermobility. That is a fancy way of say that she has extra space between her joints. This space allows her bones (and whatever else is in that joint area) to "bump" against each other over and over during the day, which is what causes her pain. The good news is that her condition is mild enough that we hope she will outgrow it on her own.
Her treatment is exercise, especially swimming, biking and running. The more she can do to help those joint muscles get stronger, the better. We are very excited about her "prescription" to swim as we are a swimming family! We will continue to monitor her, especially her right ankle which appears to be the weakest and may need to be braced later on. Hopefully very soon, with healthy eating and lots of exercise, she'll be running all day and sleeping peacefully and pain-free all night.
If your bored, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermobility
All in all, we are very grateful for, and happy with, her diagnoses. While it may not always feel like it, Ella is very lucky. She gets to be this amazing example of healthy eating and energetic exercising that we all need. Thanks to Ella, our pantries will be well stocked, our fridges will be very green and our Y membership will be well used.
I want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The calls, texts, emails and FB posts have meant so much to me and have often come at just the right moment to remind me to look forward and up!
Blessings
Ella has been diagnosed with a couple separate conditions, both of which are easily treatable!
First, she has what is called Functional Abdominal Pain. That pretty much means she has a "sensitive tummy". If she gets anxious, worried, busy, stressed, excited, pretty much any extreme emotion, it settles in her stomach. This causes very severe, and very real, stomach pain. This is not terribly uncommon, in fact her GI specialist has suffered from the same condition all his life.
We are going to be treating her with a prescription medication and a healthy (whole grain, whole foods) diet for 1 year and then see how she is doing. We are confident that this will help alleviate most of her pain and, with all of our help, we will help her learn to manage the pain that does come along.
If you want more info, check this out: http://www.gi.org/patients/gihealth/functionalab.asp
Second, she has been diagnosed with Hypermobility. That is a fancy way of say that she has extra space between her joints. This space allows her bones (and whatever else is in that joint area) to "bump" against each other over and over during the day, which is what causes her pain. The good news is that her condition is mild enough that we hope she will outgrow it on her own.
Her treatment is exercise, especially swimming, biking and running. The more she can do to help those joint muscles get stronger, the better. We are very excited about her "prescription" to swim as we are a swimming family! We will continue to monitor her, especially her right ankle which appears to be the weakest and may need to be braced later on. Hopefully very soon, with healthy eating and lots of exercise, she'll be running all day and sleeping peacefully and pain-free all night.
If your bored, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermobility
All in all, we are very grateful for, and happy with, her diagnoses. While it may not always feel like it, Ella is very lucky. She gets to be this amazing example of healthy eating and energetic exercising that we all need. Thanks to Ella, our pantries will be well stocked, our fridges will be very green and our Y membership will be well used.
I want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The calls, texts, emails and FB posts have meant so much to me and have often come at just the right moment to remind me to look forward and up!
Blessings
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Good news and deep thoughts....
We survived! Actually, Ella survived! As we all knew she would.
Ella has survived her first week of, what I like to call, her 2 week medical quest. We are spending this week and next going to different doctors and enduring different tests to figure out why little Ella has so many aches, pains and belly blues.
This weeks she had an upper GI, an endoscopy and a colonoscopy. She had to go under general anesthesia today for her procedure. That was probably harder on me than her. She did great!
The doctor didn't find anything terribly alarming and is fairly confident that he knows what the problem is, and luckily, there is a solution. The problem is that her lower intestines "spasm and cramp" which causes her severe pain. She is going to start taking a medication that will block the pain from reaching her brain (or something like that, I was distracted because I hadn't seen her yet and was anxious to!). While I don't like the idea of my 5 year old on daily medication already, I am excited to watch her live pain free! Her doc said that we will try taking her off the meds in a year and see how she does.
The bright spot in this diagnosis: her GI doc has the same condition, since childhood, so he is very receptive to it and has some great experience to share with us. Considering he was not our first choice in docs, but the situation forced us his way, thank you God for that one!!!
Next week Ella will visit her cardiologist, a quick EKG is required before starting her new "tummy medicine" then we are off to Iowa City to meet with her Rheumatologist for the first time. This will be our opportunity to explore the aches, pains and rashes that have been bothering Ella for quite some time. This should be an interesting appointment, although I am keeping my expectations low at this point! : )
So, that is the good news. We are happy with our progress thus far and optimistic about the future.
Here's my deep thought for the day:
My heart broke twice today. The first was watching my beautiful daughter slowly fall into a terrible state of lethargy. She hadn't eatin anything today and very little yesterday. By 11:00 today, she was having a hard time staying awake, couldn't concentrate on anything and cried out in sadness and hunger pains every few minutes. As I watched her, and hugged her, I thought about all the children in Haiti and elsewhere that often go without food for a day or more. I thought about all the children who have so little to eat everyday. Are they tired like Ella? Do they have the energy to go to school, to learn, to play? I doubt it. My heart broke again. What we experienced today was nothing. We fasted for a day so we could go through a very expensive medical procedure to help our daughter feel her best. Afterward, we went to Bravo and got her favorite pasta to "slowly get back her energy". Tomorrow, we'll be munching away again, not a care in the world. Except, I hope, we'll remember how we felt as we watched our "starving" child for a day.
I know there is so much more I can do to help those in need, both near and far. If you are looking for a place to serve, call me. I have great friends who work solely for the purpose of mission and I will gladly connect you.
If nothing else, my prayers tonight will be filled with gratitude. Not just for our health, but for our food and our awareness. They will also be filled with hope. Hope for the many out there who need our help and our prayers.
Blessings,
j
Ella has survived her first week of, what I like to call, her 2 week medical quest. We are spending this week and next going to different doctors and enduring different tests to figure out why little Ella has so many aches, pains and belly blues.
This weeks she had an upper GI, an endoscopy and a colonoscopy. She had to go under general anesthesia today for her procedure. That was probably harder on me than her. She did great!
The doctor didn't find anything terribly alarming and is fairly confident that he knows what the problem is, and luckily, there is a solution. The problem is that her lower intestines "spasm and cramp" which causes her severe pain. She is going to start taking a medication that will block the pain from reaching her brain (or something like that, I was distracted because I hadn't seen her yet and was anxious to!). While I don't like the idea of my 5 year old on daily medication already, I am excited to watch her live pain free! Her doc said that we will try taking her off the meds in a year and see how she does.
The bright spot in this diagnosis: her GI doc has the same condition, since childhood, so he is very receptive to it and has some great experience to share with us. Considering he was not our first choice in docs, but the situation forced us his way, thank you God for that one!!!
Next week Ella will visit her cardiologist, a quick EKG is required before starting her new "tummy medicine" then we are off to Iowa City to meet with her Rheumatologist for the first time. This will be our opportunity to explore the aches, pains and rashes that have been bothering Ella for quite some time. This should be an interesting appointment, although I am keeping my expectations low at this point! : )
So, that is the good news. We are happy with our progress thus far and optimistic about the future.
Here's my deep thought for the day:
My heart broke twice today. The first was watching my beautiful daughter slowly fall into a terrible state of lethargy. She hadn't eatin anything today and very little yesterday. By 11:00 today, she was having a hard time staying awake, couldn't concentrate on anything and cried out in sadness and hunger pains every few minutes. As I watched her, and hugged her, I thought about all the children in Haiti and elsewhere that often go without food for a day or more. I thought about all the children who have so little to eat everyday. Are they tired like Ella? Do they have the energy to go to school, to learn, to play? I doubt it. My heart broke again. What we experienced today was nothing. We fasted for a day so we could go through a very expensive medical procedure to help our daughter feel her best. Afterward, we went to Bravo and got her favorite pasta to "slowly get back her energy". Tomorrow, we'll be munching away again, not a care in the world. Except, I hope, we'll remember how we felt as we watched our "starving" child for a day.
I know there is so much more I can do to help those in need, both near and far. If you are looking for a place to serve, call me. I have great friends who work solely for the purpose of mission and I will gladly connect you.
If nothing else, my prayers tonight will be filled with gratitude. Not just for our health, but for our food and our awareness. They will also be filled with hope. Hope for the many out there who need our help and our prayers.
Blessings,
j
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Professor Avery
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