New Year's Eve

Tonight should be a lot of fun. Shaun and family are coming over, so is Mark and we are doing a Murder Mystery Dinner/Evening. Shaun is all excited about it, Tyler kind of meh and so is Michaela. The theme is a Hawaii Luau. Going shopping with Carly for decorations, food and costumes. Already planned to have a glazed ham, and cheese potatoes for supper now need to pick up snack foods and things for the chocolate fondue. We will also be playing different board games tonight and Shaun is planning on making cocktails both real and virgin. We are short on player but as the hostess I will make sure the info for him gets read, if all goes well we are already planning to do one next year, with a gangsta theme from the dirty 30s LOL.

On another note, we are still working on getting the boys here. Home review done, now to get down to the police station to fill out police record checks and meet with the assessment team and hash out a timeline/plan how integrating them into our home. Maybe by Spring they will be living here but you never know Social Services works at a crawl.

My mom and Bill have separated and looks like a divorce is in the future. I use this a form of journal but due to the fact it is online for anyone to see I wont go into details at this time. The reason for the is that certain things are playing out in Court and tell there is a ruling I don't want to jeopardize anything.

I would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year. A year of new experiences, new joys and lots of family and friends. I wish I could give you all a big hug and let you know how much I appreciate you. I heard something the other day and the way it was explained gave it new meaning to me. Here it is.... Live everyday like it is the first day of your life, because it is. Every day we wake up to a brand new day of experiences and joys, don't look back on the past but learn from it, always look forward. You never know if that day will not only be a new day but your last! So live life to the fullest, make sure your loved ones know that you love them by telling them. Help others, and smile you might be the only one that does that for them today. Smiles are contagious and they brighten every ones day. Enjoy the little things, a bird singing or the white moon, and don't sweat the small stuff, its not worth it. Looking forward to many more days and years to come and for me to try to write more on my family blog, I will strive for it!

Changes

Life can certainly through you some curve balls. I have been dealing with some extended family issue which I will not go it to here. Lets just say that it will/can effect our family and possible plans to have the boys here. Wont know more until we hear from Social Services or maybe even tomorrow when we talk to the Home Assessment worker.

On another note, my mom is giving us bunk beds, a larger kitchen table, dresser and car seats for the boys plus all their clothes. This will take pressure off us to purchase these things and make budget planning little easier. If the boys don't come to stay here the bunk beds come apart and the girls will have their own beds so win/win either way.

This is my second week working weeknights and I forgot how SLOW Mondays and Wednesdays can be. I know things will pick up after the 15 so just need to keep myself busy at work until then. Gives me lots of time to think of presents for the kids and Tyler. Been talking with ppl about the RC helicopter Tyler wants and trying to figure out which one to get him. He actually is the easy one this year as are the teens, Veronica and Cara are different stories LOL. Well I should sign off and head to bed 5:30am arrives early LOL.

The craziness of the past couple of months

It is now November and we are still working on getting the boys here. What a long process and sometimes very discouraging. The girls are still in their own rooms until we find out a possible time for when the boys are coming and then I will start transitioning them into one room. We have not seen them since early July, their birthdays have past with no family and it looks like Christmas too will be an event without family. I am sure they are feeling unloved right now, all I can do is push that we want to see them and see if my requests are answered.
I start Christmas hours at the mall, so my days will get to be very long. I have a full day home, so up at 5:30am to make sure the teens are up and getting ready for their day. Check email, play some FB games, read and try to write my Blogs, Dress and shower around 6:30, day home children start to arrive at 7:30am, Lunch and nap at noon, then they leave by 5pm. Dress for work at Cleo and head to work for 5:30 until 9:15pm home and hopefully to bed by 10:30pm rinse and repeat every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until Christmas. I might even be working Christmas Eve.
Now on top of that, this week I have to finish a couple of craft products to submit to a Design Team call. Have everything out I think I want to use, have to do to Layouts, a card and an altered item. I am super excited but also scared. It would be great to be selected over everyone else and to work with a great company and have their products for free for a year LOL, but it means I will have to step up my abilities and there will be deadlines of course.
Any how it is time for me to sign off and go take care of my family before all the craziness starts for the day. Take care everyone.

September

First month of school done, weather is starting to get cooler, actually had to turn on the heat one morning. All the trees are turning yellow then brown, I miss the orange and reds that meant fall out east. We just don't have the right type of trees here in Southern Alberta. Now if we went to Waterton or up North past Red Deer then I am sure we would see some real fall colours. Fall use to be my favourite time of year, crisp cool mornings, beautiful colours on the trees, crunchy leaves to step on and of course Halloween. Now that I am an adult and parent I can honestly say that Halloween is just not that much fun unless you are a kid.  I don't dress up, I don't go to party's, I don't get candy, I do get to go trick-or-treating with my littlest 2 girls. Veronica wants to be a dragon this year and Cara, I think, will be dressed as a bee. Need to get to Old Navy to pick up their customs this year. I cant wait to take a bunch of pictures and make LOs. Plus we are scheduling a family photo  to be taken. I am hoping to have one done every couple of years. It took me almost 4 years to talk Tyler into one because he hates having his picture taken.
Veronica is pretty much potty trained just struggling with the whole poop on the toilet thing but otherwise done. Cara has decided she wants to use the potty to so we sit her on there a couple times a day. Some times she uses it other times she just wants to sit there LOL. But that is a good start with a nonverbal child.
The Dayhome is finally full 3 days a week, I could take on a part time child for Thursdays and Fridays but its nice to have a slower couple of days before the weekend.
Weekends are hopefully going to start slowing down, all the girls are back from summer holidays and are back to work at Cleo which means I get my Saturdays back. I love working at Cleo with Amy and everyone but I miss being home on Saturdays and helping to get the cleaning done so we can do something fun in the afternoon. Plus I can make my big meals again. It was great a couple of weeks ago, had Shaun and Mark over and cooked glazed ham, country style potatoes, carrots. Then last week end had them over again and Liz, Aaron and Amelia, so had Chicken pot pie, Cesar salad and Apple pie with ice cream. Not sure what to cook for tomorrow as we always have Shaun and Mark over on Saturdays.
Have Thanksgiving planned and mostly bought for. Still need to get a turkey but was unable to find one at the places I shop yesterday. Shaun, Mark and Cathy will be here for sure, waiting to find out if my mom and stepdad are joining us. Turkey, homemade buns, mashed potatoes, yams, carrots, homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, a couple of pumpkin pies, lemon merquine pie and I have not decided yet if I will make broccoli and cheese sauce. I love Thanksgiving and cooking for people. If I could I would entertain more. I now have the house for it and a nice large kitchen just don't have enough places for people to sit and eat.
This weekend is General Conference, I will be unable to watch it Saturday due to Fostercare training but I will be able to see it later online. I love technology it has made my life much easier, sometimes I look at things and wonder how did I ever get by with out such and such. I can keep track of friends across the world, meet people from all over the world, see shows that I missed, listen to music before I buy it, able to share pictures with family no matter were they are. Talk to and see family via skype in real time. It is a great blessing. Well on that note God Bless you all and have a most wonderful weekend with your friends and families!

9/11

It dawned a warm and sunny day. The first thing I did was check on CTV news to see about a little boy was finally safe at home after being abducted on Tuesday. Was glad to see that sometime around 3am he was returned to his home. It was a wonderful start to a day that holds terrible memories for much of North America. Next up was switching on the TV to CNN to watch the 10th anniversary specials of 9/11. Glad I did not wear any makeup to Church as I spent most of the morning before leaving crying. The specials, dedications, and documentaries on yesterday were very moving. It is one of those days in history that if you lived through you will always be able to say where and what you were doing when the news hit of such tragedy.
Learn about some forgotten heroes yesterday, those boat operators that helped to evacuate survivers from downtown Manhattan. They were amazing and it was incredible to see the footage of them answering the call by the Coast Guard to come and help. To hear from the children of the first responders, who are now 10, that never got to met their fathers due to the towers collapsing. My heart goes out to them, everyone has a right to know their parents and these children only know half. To hear of the continued health problems, mental, physical and emotional that is plaguing those who helped at ground zero broke my heart. After 10 years the death toll is still raising.
I stand side by side my American friends and cry with you. I know the healing is on going, please know that I salute your troops and first responders and this tragic day in history will not be forgotten. God bless America the home of the Brave and Free!

Waiting and Training

So the plan was to take the girls to Calgary this past weekend to visit with Grandma and Opa. This did not happen for several reasons. Wednesday the girls were exposed to Chicken Pox by a friend, his son did not show any systems until Tuesday when the spots appeared. We decide to expose them again Thursday and Saturday, Saturday being the day they come over to play games with us. I have had the Chicken Pox and so have the older two kids but we were unsure of Tyler. He called his mom and was informed yes he had them while young but not a good idea to visit them as they have their 2 grandsons for the next couple of weeks while their dad Guides. Neither of the boys have had the Chicken Pox and the grandparents cant stay home from work if they get sick. So now we wait 12-14 days to see if they get them and if not then we plan a visit. Now this is hard for Veronica because she has been asking to see them and doesn't understand why we cant go right now.
The other big news is we have become serious about potty training Veronica. She loves to go on the potty but refuses to tell us when. Tyler and I talked about different solutions to this and decided to pick up a kitchen timer. Every time it goes off she goes on the potty. It worked really well for 2 days then on the third day nothing but accidents. Tyler was ready to give up because "she just doesn't understand" but I encourage him that we just need to be consistent in what we are doing and she will eventually get there. Yesterday we went and had her choose some real panties, she was very excited to do this and could not wait to get home to put them one. No accidents again so here is fingers cross that this continues. She really hates making a mess and getting all wet and I think that is what will finally do it. Pull ups are great but they don't teach the kids anything even with that "cool zone" when they wet themselves. Now the big one is to get her to poop on the toilet all the time too and then we will pretty much be done!
Michaela and Fred start seminary this morning. What a crazy mess that is. Both of them are in the morning and trying to figure out rides is a nightmare. Finally by 10pm last night everything was a go and they are up bright and early, 5:30, to get ready for their day. I too am up at that time otherwise it would be nothing but fighting and arguing and I really would like the 2 girls to stay asleep until 7am. It is the perfect time for me to do all my computer errands and read/right blogs. Have a great day everyone its going to be a hot week.

First day of School and Bullying

So today was the first day back to school for Michaela and Fred. I can't believe I have 2 children in High School. Michaela is still at LCI and Fred is going to Chinook, it is good to have them in 2 different schools. Michaela graduates this year, wow am I ever old. I remember my High School Graduation like it was yesterday and now my oldest is graduating this year. 20 years ago would never of guessed I would be watch my own child finish High School. Michaela also has Drivers ed this year and will get her license which means I can then send her on errands to the store, LOL. I have high hopes for Fred this year and that he wont be bullied. I am not going to let the schools handle it anymore, they never really do anything about it. Alot of the kids that bully him are kids he goes to church and Scouts with, this year I am going straight to the parents and we are going to have a chat! I mean I was tease in elementary but nothing like what Fred is experiencing. Kids have become down right mean, threatening and abusive, children should not have to put up with that kind of treatment. Most of us understand what this does to a person, how it belittles them, hurts their self esteem, and can cause depression and lose of self worth. As a society we have determined that this is considered abuse and adults can be charge by the police for it but we constantly make excuses for kids and try to counsel them to treat others nicer. In my experience this is a waste of time, there needs to be some major consequences for kids that bully otherwise they don't get how wrong it is. I have lived with this problem for 7 years now with my son, he is constantly bullied at school or Scouts and doesn't wish to participate at church activities because of the other kids. This year I will hopefully put a stop to this so he can enjoy his High School years as I did!

July and August

Because we moved in a week early was able to clean the old place from top to bottom, shampoo all carpets, fill all holes/marks, sand and touch paint. It was a long, hot job but finished it a day early and called the Landlord to have a walk through. No answer so tried again for a whole week. When he finally called to set one up it was 14 days after June 30th and he had been inside the place doing work. Now taking that all in to consideration I did a little homework about Alberta's Landlord/Tenant Act and found out that he had to do the walk through within the first 10 days after the 30th and he was not allowed to do any work on the premises until said walk through was finish otherwise by law he was required to turn over the whole damage deposit regardless of damages done to the property. He tried to argue with me about the carpet cleaning that I never hired professionals to do it and that it was going to cost $350 to have someone come in to do that. I got mad, LOL, and yelled at him that he either turned over the damage deposit or we would see him in court. Which he thought was funny and felt bad we could not come to an understanding. Well we left and he had until the end of July to either send the full damage deposit or take off what he felt was owed and then end up in court. I am going to assume here that after he went and read the Legislation he realize how difficult it would be to prove that he had just cause to with hold our damage deposit because I received the entire amount in the mail.
August was a nice and quite month, not LOL. August required two birthdays and a wedding. So my oldest is now 17 and graduating this year WOW. She wanted to have some girls over and have ice cream cupcakes from Marble Slab. So we had a BBQ, cake, presents and the cupcakes. Love teenage birthdays they entertain themselves!! Just need to provide a safe environment for them. Next up was the Wedding.
One of Tyler's cousins that he grew up with was getting married. None of these cousins I have met, so it was a must to attend this. Well the girls travel ok up to Calgary but this time we had to go all the way up to White Court. It was a beautiful drive, lots of trees and clean air and screaming children. We had to stop almost every 2 1/2 hours because for 2 hours the girls were good, played, slept and then the last 1/2 hour they screamed or cried. It was just GREAT. Cara is a very active 16 month old and after sitting for 2 hours needed to get out and run around abit and have a bum change. Veronica after 2 hours started to complain her bum hurt, lol, so she needed to get out and run too. Made the whole trip alot longer because of the constant stopping and starting but oh how I miss seeing such beautiful trees. Made me alittle homesick for the Maritime! The Wedding was on the same weekend as Veronica's birthday and she thought that the reception hall was decorated for her... As we entered the hall she stopped in the door way and said "OOHHH so pretty, mommy my birthday!" It was way cute. She loved the fact she was allowed to dance and that she had so many dance partners. It was wonderful to see because normally she is shy around strangers and wont venture to far from me or Ty but she was up dancing the whole time after supper. Tyler's cousins loved her and willingly danced with her quite abit. Tyler even danced with her, he still not ever danced with me! :( Well of course when we went to leave it was poring rain so we made a deal with Veronica, because she did not want to leave, that as soon as it stopped raining we would leave. It did not stop until Midnight and she danced the whole time and still got up at 7:30am the next morning. The also announced at the reception that it was her birthday too LOL. She loved it and I am glad we went even with how horrible they are at traveling.
 The next weekend I have Veronica's 3rd party to plan and have. It was a quite affair with both sets of grandparents and close friends. She loved her tea set and plays with it everyday outside with the water table. Tyler and I got her a VTech ereader which teaches her grammar, reading, word meaning, etc...its good up to 8 years old. The big hit was Grandma and Opa's present, a TinkerBell Quad! Its purple and she loves it, Cara even gets on it to ride.
Now of course it is the end of August and School starts tomorrow for Fred and Michaela, both in High School and Michaela graduates this year. She already has her Grad ring picked out, Grad dress picked out, Driver Education starts and she is on School Council. Its going to be one busy year for her. Fred starts in a new school and is in High School. He turns 14 this year so that means a learners permit to drive. I am going to have straight white hair soon LOL. Still no word on when the boys will be relocated here we are hoping for October. All up to date now, hopefully more post on a more regular bases. I know I have said that before but I am always striving to make it.

Were to begin?

Lets see if I can update you all on all the things that have happened or changed with us.

First, my nephews were pulled from my mom's house and placed in foster care just out of the blue. I got involved and called or emailed several MLA's and Minister to find out what was happening and why no one was informed or why the boys were not placed here instead of foster care as that is what is suppose to happen. After a week of letter writing and phone calls I heard from a Social Service supervisor. We talked for about an hour and half about the situation and their decision to put the boys in foster care and not contact us. After that call I started dealing with the boys care worker and the Taber office. It was determined during that phone call that Tyler and I would start looking for a larger place to stay as they wish to place the boys with family and not with a foster family. This would be a huge decision on our parts as the boys are 4 and 7 this year and instead of a small 5 bedroom home we would have to find a large 5-6 bedroom home. Plus it would complete change the dynamics of our family. Not only would Tyler be raising my 2 older children from my first marriage but he would also become a father figure to 2 little boys not related at all by blood.

So the hunt was on for a larger home. We wanted to stay on the West side of town close to a school. I started checking all the listings out there and found one on kijiji.ca. The house was 2 blocks away closer to the school. In fact we are right across from the school. The house is a large 5 bedroom home. There is alot of room right now but I know once the boys are placed here it will seem alot smaller. There is a large kitchen and dining room, living room (which I use for the day home), bathroom, master bedroom with 3 piece on suite and 2 bedrooms on the first floor. Veronica and Cara will share one room and the boys with bunk beds will share the other one. Downstairs is a large family room, 2 bedrooms, 3 piece bath large storage/laundry area and a nook that I use for crafting. Fred's room is on one side of the family room and Michaela's is on the other by the bathroom.

Packing was a pain as we had 2 weeks to pack and start moving and I was still running my day home. Try packing with 3 small children under feet and trying to keep them out of the boxes that are already packed and stacked. I was kept very busy. The last weekend of June arrived and we rented a moving truck and moved everything over. I had to have at least the kitchen and living room in order for Monday when I had kids in to watch. Thankfully we had a couple of members show up to help move otherwise it would of taken us 7 hours instead of 5. We had run out of boxes so I was emptying them and Michaela was repacking them, that is what took so long. Now if we had to move a greater distance I am sure we would of had everything packed.

So that brings us to the end of June.

Cara's 1st Birthday and Easter

What an incredible busy weekend it was. Last week was worried that the weather would be awful and there was no way we would end up outside. Thankfully the sun came out and melted most of the snow and dried up the backyard. All the family came down from Calgary and celebrated the day with us. Cara got spoiled and really seemed to enjoy a number of her new toys. She was quite shy with everyone but by the end on Sunday was willing to visit with Grandma, Opa, Grandma Sugar, Uncle Darren and Aunt Lindsay. Veronica and Hailey got along well and Veronica loved having another friend to play with. Its nice that there are so many children around the same age in Tyler's extended family. Cara will mostly be the youngest as there are no plans from any of the Uncles to have more nor does Tyler's brothers want more kids. I love having a house full of family and friends. At the same time I am glad that it doesn't happen all the time. I love to entertain and wish I had more space to do it. One day Tyler and I will have our own house and it will have everything I need to have great get to gathers. Until then I will make due. I was so disappointed in the cake I made for Cara, one of them broke so was hard to ice and then the other one I ran out of room when writing on it. I should just stick to shaped cakes as the normal ones I fail at, LOL. Cara had no idea what she was suppose to do with her cake, even with Grandma helping her she would no touch it so have no pics of her making a huge mess. The other kids had fun with the pinata that we had for them. They beat on it but did not break it. Once we got them to select a ribbon and pull on it, the candy and toys finally came out.
For Easter supper it will be the normal crowd, us, Shawn, and Cathy. The only one missing will be Mark, but now that he has his own car he will be visiting his family more for the holidays and I will be feeding him less LOL. They are pretty much our family and we love them like they are related to us.

Happy Easter Everyone and remember be grateful to our Saviour Jesus Christ for he died and was risen for us this wonderful day. Because of him each and everyone of us can be saved and return to live with our Father in Heaven on day.

Bedroom move

Have been talking but keep putting off moving Cara into the shared bedroom for the 2 youngest girls. Was worried that Veronica would not be able to sleep when Cara cried and that I would not hear her to get up and nurse her. Yesterday I moved her crib out of our bedroom and into their shared room. Afternoon nap was a little of a challenge, Veronica and Cara played, Cara in her crib and Veronica standing by her to hand her toys LOL. Veronica finally got tired and laid down on her bed and went to sleep, about 15 minutes later Cara started to cry because no one was there to play with her LOL. Cara wont sleep until she is very tired and falling asleep. She wants to stay up and play or visit and go, go, go. So I got her up so she would not wake Cara and nursed her hoping that she would go to sleep, which she did but as soon as I tried to lay her down she was up crying. Last night was the big question on how they both would sleep in the same room. Veronica went to bed as normal and Cara stayed up until 9:30 when she finally passed out and we could move her to her crib without her waking up and crying. She was up at 12:30, and 3:00 to nurse and then first morning feeding at 5:30, luckily she goes back to sleep easily at those times. Both Veronica and Cara should be up in about 45 minutes which is 7:15am to start their day. My night surprising was easy and I think I got better sleep with her out of the room. Crossing my fingers that this continues to be a good thing. Hoping that we will be able to get Cara on a sleep time routine like Veronica. Next step weaning....Wish me luck there, got her weaned for the day just need to wean her at night now.

Hospital stay

So Cara did not improve. In fact when I got home Friday night we deiced she need to go to emergency. Normally this would of been no big deal but without wheels or cash how to get there. I called my BF Cathy and asked if she could take us down and that if we had to wait long she could go home to bed as she had to work early in the morning. I kind of figured we would get admitted. We get to emergency and there is hardly anyone there, YEAH! but still have to wait. After 1/2 hour I go to the nurse and ask how much longer. He tells me that there are 10 people in the back still waiting to see the doctor so it will be awhile. I ask him to come and check Cara's oxygen levels because it they are low she will be staying for day or so. He replies sure and comes over with the O2 sensor the reading is low and he figures it is the batteries so go off to change them. He comes back and tries it again and it is still reading at about 30% oxygen in her blood, this is very bad it should read 100%. He tells me to bring her because we are headed to see the doctor because this can not wait! I turn to Cathy and thank her for bringing us and send her home to bed. Once we are in the back a Nurse comes over to take vitals and she too is concerned about the oxygen levels in Cara's blood. Once her temp is taken she is given Tylenol and she pucks it up so they have to give it too her again. We are then sent for x-rays of her chest. Let me tell you that is TONS of fun with a 10 month old. I stand behind the machine holding on to her arms so that they are up over her head for the first pic and then sideways and arms held in front without her moving. The side pic had to be taken 3 times because she would start to move toward her arms LOL. No crying and once I get her dressed and return to the emergency beds I see the doctor and he shows me her x-rays. He tells me she has pneumonia and that she needs to be admitted, hopefully in 3 days she will be better to go home. So we head back to the room and wait for a bed on the PEDs floor to be ready for her. While we wait the Nurse comes back in with a Lab tech and another Nurse. They need to get some blood from Cara and set up an IV. Now that is really scary for a parent to see and help with. She is a strong little girl and can put up quite the fight even with being as sick as she was. They try the IV on her hand first but are unable to fine the vain so the other Nurse tries one in the foot and hits it the first time. They draw a vial of blood from that point so they don't have to poke her again and then attach a IV and tape it up and put on a splint so that she cant move her foot or pull it out. On the other foot they attach a line for her heart and oxygen sensor. Finally we head up to PEDs and it is 2:00am by this time. Great staff on the PEDs floor. They take her out of my arms and place her on the crib and start to check her over while they do this I am answering a ton of questions for admittance papers. Once that is all done it is now 3am and there is a bed made up for me to sleep in. The Nurses tell me they will be in every 4 hours to check on Cara and to give her antibiotics but to try and get some sleep. Cara is sleeping some what peacefully she is now hocked up to Oxygen too. So I take off my shoes and crawl into bed and fall asleep.
Now I thought the hospital stay when having a baby was boring well this was worst. Cara was in isolation so anyone that came into the room had to have a gown on and she was not aloud to leave. We were there until Monday afternoon. I got to leave twice for a couple of hours otherwise I stayed there the entire time and over night. Tyler brought me clothes and money for food. I got a lot of sleep surprisingly and so did Cara. Once her blood test came back we knew she did not have pneumonia but RSV which in infants is worst and more deadly then pneumonia. To the rest of the world over 2 years of age RSV is the common cold in infants it presents it self like pneumonia but once the blood work is done pneumonia is not present so the Doctors say it is RSV. Most cases of RSV are a lot worst then ours. The Doctor was very happy with me that I brought her in when I did, he told me that most parents wait far to long before coming into emergency with their very sick kids. They wait until the child is limp with no muscle tone and by then the infection is all thorough the body and the child needs a longer time in Hospital to recover. I told him that to me she was lethargic because she was not nursing, eating and was sleeping all day. Very different then my little toddler that wont sleep during the day at all. So I knew something was very wrong with her.
I talked with the Nurses about RSV and this years cold and flu season, they said it was the worst one ever that they had seen. I explained how the colds seemed to cycle through the kids about every 3 weeks. They told me that Cara likely had not gotten completely well from one before the next one hit and that they just compounded each time and made her worst until finally her body could not take it anymore. One of the Nurses said that is what happened to her and that it laid her flat on her back for 3 days. I also was laid out for a day because of all the colds but got better quickly. Then about a week later Cara came down with this.
She came home Monday the 28th of February and we had to give her flow vent every 4 hours for 10 days plus a follow up with our family doctor on March 16. Because of the 3 different antibiotics they had her on she developed dirrera and it was bad. Called the Healthlink and they said to put her on pedialight and it would stop it. Sure enough the first bottle and she kept it down and her poops start to get little more solid. She lost 5 lbs while sick. Now almost 2 weeks later she has her appetite back and is nursing fine. Working on getting her back on the bottle but looks like she might prefer a sip cup which is fine with me. She is 100% back to being her normal self and you would not know by looking at her how sick she was. I am glad it is over and pray that we will not have to go through something like that again. It is wonderful to be a parent but when they are that sick you just want to die for them if it will make them better. I don't know how parents out there do it day in and day out with a child that is terminally ill. They are the STRONGEST parents ever and wish them all the best and that things will get better for their families.

Just when you thought.....

So our one and only reliable vehicle decide to quit working this past weekend. We finally have a garage to take it to and get it fixed. If that was not bad enough both girls have been sick but was not to worried until last night/early this morning. Cara is not doing well. She is not eating solids and is barely drinking milk, she is not even willing to nurse. Now she is getting enough in her system to keep her hydrated because she is having wet diapers but it is her breathing I am most concerned with. Plus if she continues not eat or drinking she will get dehydrated quickly. Normally this would be no big issue because I could just up and stick her in the van and off to the doctor's office but I have no wheels. So now I have to rely on the generosity of friends and hope they are available to help me out. Otherwise I have no idea how I am going to get her to see a doctor. She is sleeping better right now then she did all night but that might be due to the shower I gave her this morning to help clear out her nose and the steam to help her breath better. Also was able to get her to take an oz of pediesure. Hope she will drink more as her tummy was growling this morning. She also pucked up twice that was why the shower in the first place. I hate it when the really young ones get sick there is not much you can do but wait it out or when it gets worse take them to the doctor. Hopefully she will get better soon!

My little baby.

So here it is the end of February and I am already making plans for Cara's first birthday. It will be the last first birthday I have to plan and of course we have family coming down for it. Cara turns one on April 23 which this year is a Saturday and lands on Easter weekend. We are going to have a party in the afternoon with a potluck style supper after for our out of town guests. It is a long 2-3 hour drive to come down for a 3 hour visit and I figure if they are all here then why not celebrate Easter too. Hoping and praying for nice weather that way we can be mostly out side. There will be a Easter chocolate hunt and egg shaped cupcakes and of course visiting for the family and friends. I plan on making the Easter baskets for the kids to collect the chocolate in and then put some parents in charge of separating it all later to make sure everyone gets some. I cant believe my baby will be a year soon. Time sure does fly while they are growing up.
Finally past the no sleep stages. She doesn't like to sleep during the day except for about 2 hours in the afternoon. She is only up about twice a night now and hoping that by the time she is a year that will be down to once or non at all. She is an early riser, which surprises me that she doesn't want to nap in the morning. She loves music and moves and groves to it. Plus she enjoys clapping along with you. Her biggest pleasure right now is pull herself up and walking along the furniture and even sometimes standing with out help. Cara adores Veronica and will climb all over her and pull her down to hug and kiss. It is so cute, I sure hope that continues and they are close. She has really bonded with Fred and lights up when he comes home from school. She would rather sit with him then her oldest sister Michaela. No longer the mom's girl is Cara although if she is missing me she will come and crawl to my scrap book room to see me. Playing with dad seems to be in her top 5 things to do. She giggles so much with him it is wonderful to see them bond so well. Her personality becomes more vivid every day. I love all my children so much and can't wait to continue watching them learn and grow to become incredible people.

Growing up

I am constantly surprised by my children. My youngest is 10 months and decided it was time to climb the stairs. She and I were sitting in the family room sorting books and putting them away when she went off to play. Next thing I know my oldest, 16 years, yells out "look mom, Cara is climbing the stairs!" By the time I turned around she was at the top of the stairs just happy as can be. Now she is still combat crawling, pulling her self up on the furniture and walking along it, but climbing stairs, I was not expecting that for a couple of months yet. Needless to say the gate came out and is up at the bottom of the stairs until she is out of this stage.
Veronica can now count to 10 she does it very quietly and might miss one number but she can count. She also is very polite and has very pretty manners. On the other hand she has wicked tantrums which we are working on getting under control.
Michaela is going on her first trip out of country ever to Cuba this week with her band. It is a cultural exchange and they also will be doing some humanitarian projects. They will be working with several different schools and their students while there and have one day to do the touristy stuff. She will be gone for a full week. Lucky Girl, I have only traveled to the States. This will be her second trip on her own without family. I cant wait to see the pics.
There is more news but first I want to confirm everything and get contracts all signed before I spill it. Well off to finish supper so until next time stay safe and may the Lord hold you in the Palm of His Hands!

Genealogy

I am so excited for my two oldest children tomorrow. I have been working on and off on my family history so that the Temple work for them could get done. Tomorrow 8 of my ancestors will have their work started. 4 male and 4 female. Would be more if I had death dates  and other assorted information. Now here is my goal...Every Sunday will be my Genealogy day. A dear family friend is staying with my mom and her job is Genealogy so I am going to do as much as I can and then see what directions she can steer me to that would help. I will finally full fill a promise I made when I was a teen to make sure I got my family information done and submitted to the Temple. Every time I sit down and do a little genealogy I get very excited. It is amazing to see were your roots are from and sometimes the interesting stories of them in history. I look forward to working on this and to continue the work needed for my family. Have a great day everyone!

New Year

So New Years was a blast. Everyone had fun and enjoyed the fondue. Had way too much stuff to dip in it but will know better for next time. The cheese fondue separated but no one seemed to care. I think next time I will put it in a crock pot to keep it at a constant temp and hopefully it wont separate. The chocolate was to die for. Will have to have 2 pots of it when I do it again LOL either that or I will go with smooth chocolate and get a chocolate fountain instead. Also need to do double the amount of Cherries and maybe some different melons. We played a new game that our friends gave us for Christmas called PowerGrid. Great family game and a wonderful way to teach basic economics to kids.
Now on to the changes we have made in the family. So last year it was all about family prayer which we are doing more often then not. This year it is to have a real Family Home Evening. So far so good. This month the lessons are all on Gratitude and the older kids even have Gratitude journals that they are suppose to be writing in every day. We need to work on that part, LOL. I want them to be more aware of their Blessings and to be thankful for what they have. Also for them to see the small things in their everyday life that they should be grateful for. I know I need to work on that in some ways too. My biggest thing is I WANT a house but I need and should be grateful that we rent a wonderful house that suits our needs. As the Lord constantly tries to get through to me, I need to be more patience because all good things come to those that wait and if that means I am 50 by the time we can by a house then I must except that! In 5 years our youngest children will be starting school and I can then go back to work full time. Once that happens then we can start saving and planning for our future. I just worry sometimes because by then I will be in my early 40s and we wont have enough time to plan for retirement. But I have to learn to put my trust in the Lord for he will never let me down and will provide what I need even if I don't know what it is.
I started working on a blog about my childhood memories for 2 reasons. First because my sister is writing a ton of lies about my mom and how we grew up. My mom doesn't care but I do. I have a need to stand up and defend my childhood and set the record straight. I am not saying my mom was a saint but she is not the monster my sister is trying to portray. And 2 for my children, I know I don't talk much about growing up, how hard it was sometimes or the ways I felt. This way they can see/read that their mother was a kid too and had some of the some issues, concerns and problems they have. I just never realized how draining it is to write it. So far there are 4 post and I need to contact my mom to help with the next one. Because my memory is that of a child, seen through a child's eyes and is therefor imperfect and I don't want to put up anything false.
Well that is a long enough post for now, I will try to be better this year and post at least once a week. Have a great and wonderful day everyone!