What's for dinner?

Tonight I asked Helen what we should cook for dinner. I got to the pantry door and said, "Helen, How about spaghetti? I think we should have spaghetti." As I'm reaching for the door knob she says, "No, I want Cap'n Crunch."

Kids.

Stupid door

There's always some point in our lives as parents when we do things to our children that hurt them and we beat ourselves up for it. Some let their infants roll off the bed, some look away for a second and that toddler puts his little hand on the hot oven door, maybe we even watch in slow motion as they fall down bust their lip open on a toy you should have picked up an hour ago. When Helen was a baby I looked away for a second and she rolled off the couch, and I felt HORRBILE about that, but I found away to get over it.

Today, however, I did another Mommy Booboo and closed Helen's fingers in the door. I didn't realize she was holding onto the threshold near the henge and the door shut all the way before she let out a scream. Bless her heart. She cried....but you knew that. I cried...you probably knew that too. She told me in her pitiful little sobbing cry, "I hold MOMMY! Mommy my fingers! Kiss it mommy! I want my bandaid! I want my Lambie! Mommy, fingers in the door it hurts!"

My heart ached. I did my initial exam and put a bandaid and ointment on the fingernail of her right ring finger. I squished it pretty good....

Knowing Helen and how she normally reacts to pain, she seemed to be in more pain than just a squished finger. I didn't think it could be broken, but it did seem like something else was wrong.

I took her to her doctor and our sweet Dr. Huff said she needed to do Xrays because if the growth plates were damaged, we needed to get her seen by a specialist. The first Xray went GREAT because they didn't have to manipulate the fingers at all. Just put them flat on the film. The second however took me and another nurse to hold her down to get a good shot. They had to see the side angle of the finger.

We waited as they developed and sure enough....the tip of her finger was broken. Thank the Lord God in Heaven that I didn't damage the growth plates. Dr. Huff said she'd be fine in a few weeks, but until then we had to keep them taped up and a bandaid over the finger nail until it heals.

I told Helen as she screamed during the second Xray that if she would hold still, I would buy her some ice cream. So I lived up to my end of the deal and took her to Sonic and bought her a strawberry smoothie. When we went to the drug store to get some tape I got her a new cup too! She had to put her smoothie in it too!

All in all, here's our little patient with her sticker from the doctor, her new cup, and her war wounds.

A treat...

Don't they look good? MMMM! Tollhouse cookies.....they cooked up so nicely. We made them for Santa, Helen and I did. She helped me put in the ingredients and then after she went to bed they came out of the oven to cool. Oh, I was CRAVING these by the time they were cool enough to taste. That first bite was finally mine and it was AWFUL. I realized after that first nasty bite that we put in one TABLEspoon of salt instead of one TEAspoon. Yeah, it was a cookie, but it was a terrible cookie. It looked good, but man it was bad. Poor Santa, all he got was milk.

Me and you, and you and me...

...no matter how they toss the dice, it has to be.
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together!

We celebrated six years this week!

(see next post about Helen)

Smurfs taste good

Helen got into a bag of acrylic craft paints I had ready for our Halloween party Friday. I wish I hadn't been so mad when I first found her because it would have been a great picture. It wasn't until I got her into the tub, the potatoes boiling over on the stove off the eye, keeping Brian from stepping in the blue puddle on the floor as he came in the door (unaware of the madness), and trying to determine whether or not to call poison control (all happening in three minutes), that I realized how hilarious this whole situation was! So you get the muted version.

Way to go Helen...it looks like you murdered Papa Smurf.

A visit to Grandmom's and four band-aids later.

I went to visit my grandmother in Birmingham his past Friday. I stayed with her and then had plans to go to my ONLY sister's first child's baby shower on Saturday. Friday was an enjoyable day with my grandmother and her husband, my mom and step-dad, my uncle, a friend, and, of course, Helen! We played and laughed with Helen for hours. We even went shopping for a new pair of shoes for Helen to wear to the shower. I was SOOOO excited, having planned to go for weeks.

Unfortunatley, after dinner on Friday night, I began to feel a little tightness in my tummy. I thought it was indigestion. I decided to go to bed and didn't sleep a wink. Tightness became ache, and ache became pressure, and pressure became pain. By midnight, I'd had enough. I called my mom and we decided it was best that we go to the ER.

At the ER, they took blood, but determined that everything was fine...except for my obvious pain. They wouldn't do an ultrasound due to that it was a Saturday and there was no immediate need or emergency. One would think a doctor would want to know for sure what was causing my pain, but not this one. So he gave me pain meds, saying it was "probably" my gall bladder, and sent me on my way. He told me to see my family doctor when I got back home. (How he thought I could physically drive home....I'll never know)

We got back to grandmom's about 6am to rest, but I couldn't, as the pain meds hadn't started working. Moma went home to rest. Little did I know that she would call an hour or so later, to tell me that she would be driving me back to GA. WOW. What a mom!!

She got Helen up, fed her some breakfast, and got her dressed. Then, she packed up and loaded all of mine and Helen's things into my van. Keeping in mind she's still had only a few hours of sleep, she gets all of us in the van and off we ride to GA....a four hour trip barring there are no stops. (Of course, with Helen potty training, we stopped several times)

The trip went well! The Lord kept us safe and without delays all the way home.

I was able to get an appointment with my doctor first thing Monday morning. By then, the pain had subsided (without pain meds), but as soon as the Doc pushed on my abdomen, she pretty much confirmed the ER's hypothesis that it was a gall bladder attack. She immediately called the lab and got me an appointment for an ultrasound. They confirmed that there was in fact a stone and infection (why the blood work in the ER didn't show infection, i don't know). So off to the surgeon's office for formality's sake.

Surgery to remove the gall bladder was scheduled for Wednesday (yesterday). It's long name is called laparoscopic "cholecystectomy" *co-lee-sist-ECK-toe-mee*. I don't remember anything after I left Brian, other than the nurse was nice and gave me a warm blanket...yeah...right out of the toaster! I woke up with cotton mouth, four band-aids on my tummy, and feeling as if I'd done 10,000 sit-ups while sleeping! Pretty good, huh? I felt way better than I did in the ER 4 days prior!

Gotta love American technological advancements! After they removed the organ, they found that the stone was actually blocking the exit to my pancreas and that the actual gall bladder was only filled with infection. I'm so thankful that I got rid of that thing before the stone made it's way into my pancreas. I think we all know what a detriment that could have been!

They say I'll feel better in 48-72 hours! And I believe it! Even without the narcotics I feel pretty good! Thank the good Lord for a successful surgery! Thank you to the seven wonderful people who came to visit me before they took me to surgery: Larry, Essie Mae, Harry, Mary Alice, Richard, Pat, and Tommy. It means so much that they came! Thank you also to my wonderful husband for being with me through this whole thing and for making me feel comfortable and cherished. Thanks to my mom too for the unending list of helps and for being at home taking care of my sweet Helen when I couldn't. (I'm sure it was hard work being with her grandbaby for days...lol)

Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts!

I can't leave you without a picture, so see it below. (second post for the day...see next) Have a great weekend everyone!

Two people I miss so much....Lori and Kim.

They always make me smile!

Turbo...? Not so much

When I ordered this little beauty (Bissell Turbo Sweep) at walmart.com, I was impressed by the number of great reviews that it had. I wanted a quite little electric sweeper to pick up Cheerios and whatever else Helen drops so I didn't have to drag out the big vacuum. I got this for my office, actually. Well, it DOESN'T WORK. Contrary to the reviews, (of course there were some that do agree with me) it doesn't "suck" like it's supposed to. I tried to vacuums up some thyme I spilled in the floor (you know the herb that weighs NOTHING) and it took like forty passes to get it cleaned up. What kind of vacuum has so little suction that it won't pick up HERBS!

Ok, I'm done ranting.

The good thing is, that this little vacuum is the best thing for HELEN! I let her go around and play use it. She loves to push (and pull) it around and clean like mommy. Toy vacuums are fun, but this one beats them all. Even though this "real" one doesn't work very well, it is somewhat functional AND it's a kid pleaser! Who knew?

But here's the question, do I give it a good grade for being a good toy or a bad grade for being a rotten sweeper?

PS. I HAVE A NEW HELEN POST. SEE NEXT.

Camp

We did so much in such a short amount of time at camp two weeks ago I can barely recount it all in one day, let alone in one blog. I am still catching up on my sleep from it, actually. We went to Palmetto Bible Camp in Marietta, South Carolina for an entire week, yep seven days. We met some awesome people, made some awesome friends, and had some great Christian fun. It never ceases to amaze me how Christians have such bonds. I'd only met one or two people at this camp before the week began and I walked away with so many fun memories. I think that if there is a heaven on earth it's at camp. The singing is great, the fellowship is great, and fun is great, and God is always there. Who wouldn't love that.

I've attached several pictures for you all to see. I hope you will enjoy.

Oh, btw, there are so many pictures that were not taken by me. Most of these are from a girl named Kierra. She was one of the campers in cabin five with me. She's totally awesome. I totally bummed them from her facebook, with her permission of course!

Brittni, Hannibal, and Emily - some of the greatest counselors at camp

Jasmine (her friends call her Jazz) - one of the sweetest and coolest teenagers I had the opportunity to meet

Wes trying is hand at song leading. He did pretty well.

Jillian after being "banana-creme-pied"

Brian hiking up to the waterfall and then to the "sliding rock." (God-made water slide)

The base of the water fall

Team 5 (our team) playing human battleship

Pancake the dog taking an afternoon snooze

Our masquerade masks at the banquet

Water Slide (and the geese)

The Ark

The Miniature Golf Course

Canoeing on the lake

Our "helicopter" for our Coast Guard Skit

Our Boat for the skit

The driver

And the best shot of the weekend....on the way home, the boys slept...just like this.

I am alive and spiritually recharged.

This is the way I felt most days at Bible camp. We were busy all day long and running on pure adrenaline becuase sleep was very hard to come by.....

The theme of the week was "Christianity: Uniform or Costume" and it was VERY well executed by the directors and staff! We had at least three lessons per day and all of them were fantastic and so sound! All the staff and counsellors wore matching camo T-shirts each day...a different color for each day as well. That was fun too! I liked the camo!

I made lots of friends, but one really stood out. I'll tell you more about her later. I got to spend much time with my good buddy TRUDY, as well as a few days with her sisters, Heidi and Lavenia.

I want to spend the next hour telling you about my week, but I will save more for later. I will get into details then too!

I also have some pictures coming from the Saturday I left for camp. Brian and I took Nathan to the park along with Helen and my mom and stepdad. There was a festival. SO MUCH FUN! I'll have more about that soon, but here is one pic of my sweet nephew giving me some love....

I've been a little busy blowing by dose

Does anyone know where I can buy one of these?!!!!!




I'm sorry to all of my frequent readers, I've been sick these past few days. I have intended to get on here to post some pics since last weekend, but alas, the schnoz has prevailed. I've gone to bed early every night. Sorry folks. My wonderful mom is in town tonight, so maybe I can get something posted that has a little more gusto! Yall take care! If there are any of you out there that have the same thing going on...I'm praying for you.

Someone's always got it better and someone's always got it worse. Be thankful for what you have.

After the previous post, since I'm a newbie, I was jumping from blog to blog to see all the people I know who are also blogging. I ran across two blogs whose authors were new mothers of QUADRUPLETS! I think one set was 9 months and the other set 6 months. So, needless to say, I felt better about my little bout with Helen this week.

Can you imagine going through all the stages of life with FOUR at the same time. Those women must be super strong in mind and soul for our Father to bless them so. He must know they are fantastic women.

I am going to be praying for those mothers this week because they are going to need whatever help they can get. I don't know these people, but I'm sure God doesn't care if i know them or not.

I guess it goes to show you that someone has always got it better than you and someone has always got it worse than you. Though I was merely venting in my last blog, I should have taken the time to be thankful for what I have.

If you want to read up on these ladies, please visit them, their links below:

Life As I See It

Burkett Quads

Today has been a day. The past few days have tested my patience and my ability as a mother. Helen, my beautiful daughter, is a red-headed little fireball and has always kept me on my toes, literally and figuratively. Today and yesterday, however, has made me wonder if I'll ever make it to the "terrible twos" let alone through them.





I've felt like this guy all day long. My eyebrows are almost stuck in the "I MEAN IT" position. I've said "no," "stop," "quit," "don't do it, " and "no ma'am" at least 100 times today. I've popped her at least half as many times because I usually give her a second chance, so that sucks too. It seems like she is intentionally disobeying me and defiant just to be so. LIKE A TEENAGER! Now, I'm not looking for sympathy here, just venting that it is really hard staying mad all day. (For those readers out there, I am a part-time bookkeeper and Helen comes with me everyday. So I am doing this at work, or at home, depending on the day). I got maybe 3 hours of work done today, including the time she was napping.







My blood pressure was so high this afternoon when Brian got home I had to lay down and rest for 45 minutes before I could make dinner. Not only did he take Helen and let me have the time alone, but he straightened up the house and took out the trash. (That's not unusual for him, but today it made my heart happy!)


Today I've learned I need more patience and also more understanding of "love." I say I love Helen, but I don't feel like I showed her love being mad and the strict disciplinarine all day. How do you balance it. I mean, I discipline because I love her, but how far is too far for a 13 month old? What do I do to make her understand? Is consistency all that I have on my side? This mothering thing is hard, but worth while. I get a few hugs at night and a kiss every-now-and-then. (She's stingy with those)

I'm sending out a universal prayer request and hope that if any of your professionals out there have any advise....send it my way.