Snippets

Regular ol' school day around here. Everyone seems to be back in regular health except poor Miss B. 

This morning I sent Alan to the other end of the house so he'd have somewhere quiet to read his school chapter. (He's reading Heidi.)  

I said.... "Go lay on my bed" (Which was made, by the way).

This is how I found him:

 Fully clothed. In my bed. Not on my bed.

And two siblings climbing all over him. I shooed them out.

We finished the letter "L" today in our preschool lessons. 
 See my Little Lions? 

This afternoon I came upon Daniel and the cars he had lined up just so. 

He was very proud of his handy work. "It's beautiful!" he said.

Tuesday, April 29

I think Tuesday just might be my new favorite day of the week. Monday is getting back into the swing of things and recovering from the weekend. But by Tuesday we've found our groove again and can roll through the day! (Until we interrupt again on Wednesday for storytime at the library.) ;)

This morning we got the house all looking spiffy again, then had a quick little preschool time reading the parable of the lost sheep. The big boys and I finished up 2 Kings. Kind of a sad time, seeing the nation of Judah, the last of the Israelites being carried off into captivity. I thought it was somber, anyway. I hope the boys felt the same.

While they worked on notebooking their Bible story, Tyler and Brooklyn and I made a color, cut, and glue sheep craft. We headed out on our morning walk for only the first or second time since I blogged about it last week. Yeah, that 2 mile thing....not happenin' any time soon, I'm afraid. But it's nice to get out anyway. Tyler and I walked, while Brooklyn and Daniel rode in the stroller and Dale and Alan circled on their bikes, for about 15-20 minutes. Then for a treat we headed over to the community swing set and played for a little while before heading home. It's been a while since we've done that, and they almost always ask!

Lunch was a treat today...last night was our monthly ladies' Bible study at church and it was my turn to help bring food. I came home with leftover beefy enchilada dip (yum!) which made a fine nacho topping for lunch today.

Dale and Alan worked together to finish up our mini-study on earthquakes. They loved coloring the risk-map for the U.S. I learned something new about them through that!

This boy loves the vacuum! He didn't want to let go!

After we finally got everyone to bed tonight I smothered marshmallows and almonds in chocolate ice cream. Boom - my own rocky road. Between eating that, blogging, baby name shopping, and helping Greg work on memory verses for school tomorrow I've managed to fill over an hour. Bedtime approacheth! 

Dec 5

First of all, somebody was super proud of himself for getting a pencil to stand up in a lego block. He did it over and over again!

In the morning we continued reading through "One Wintry Night". Today's chapters covered the fall of Adam and Eve.

Before lunch we all sat down together at the table with our paper and pencils. Following the directions from Art Projects for Kids, we each drew and then colored or own Santas. Here is Alan's:

And I am so disappointed that Dale's seems to have completely disappeared! He put so much into his background and scene setting. It is so very 'Dale'. :)

While we were cleaning up lunch I had the idea to have a spelling bee with Dale and Alan. I left them finishing the cleanup and put together a list of 30 words each for them. I gave them about 10 minutes to study their words, and then we got out our Bible Baseball gameboard. Instead of a bee, we played spelling baseball! Dale and I loved it (for different reasons, lol). Alan - not-so-much. But that may have been because too many of his words were too challenging. We'll definitely be doing this again soon!

Finally, with 33 degree rain closing in, we had an early supper and got into pjs to watch The Polar Express on tv. Complete with hot chocolate - although it was not served with backflips and singing. ;)

Graduation Day

We knew the day was coming soon, we just didn't know when.  

On a whim, it turned out to be today.

Tyler graduated from his booster seat at the supper table...

Brooklyn graduated from the high chair to the booster...

And Daniel joined us at the table!

I had forgotten how much happier a fussy suppertime baby can be when they are simply up high with everyone else!  

Daniel wasn't the only one that was happy.  Brooklyn was Miss Big Stuff sitting at the table!  She was in a silly mood, showing out for everyone, but still ate her supper like a big girl.

And speaking of eating.... somebody had his first solid food tonight!

Mashed avocado.  Went down like he's been doing it all his life.  Welcome to the table, Daniel!  Happy graduation day to our babies! :)

Daniel - 5 months

Ok, so in 7 days he'll be 6 months. 
Oops.

But these pictures were taken when he was 5 months.  So it works, right?

Here's our smiley baby boy!

Allergy free diet update

Here we are, 10 days in. Thank you all for your comments on my original allergy post last week.

Daniel's skin is looking great!  It cleared up around the one-week mark and has only continued to improve.

Just today I can begin to notice his little nose not being snotty, and he seems to cough less.  But when he does cough he still sounds a little congested.

I haven't seen the poop results I am looking for, but it's still early.

As far as the concerns I had for myself:

Yes, I miss cheese and all things dairy.  And peanut butter.  I miss peanut butter more than I thought I would!

Yes, I get hungry often.  But I snack often, too, so I don't think I've lost any weight.  I've eaten a lot of chips & salsa, bean dip (made my own), and hummus (made my own of that, too).  I'm on my second batch of granola. :)

The only 'cheats' have been a little bit of mayo (made with eggs) and tonight I floured my meat before I fried it.  I'm so certain dairy is the culprit I didn't see those cheats as a big deal.  The biggest hurdle was our monthly fellowship meal at church Sunday.  

Breakfast hasn't been as hard as I thought.  I did eat beans one day, because I was going out and didn't want to be snacking and hungry later.  The other days I've been eating (instant) oatmeal.  I discovered cooking it with a tablespoon or so of pumpkin helps make it nice and creamy. :)  I prefer making my own oatmeal instead of using instant but since I'm already making the boys breakfast every morning it's so much easier to just use the instant.

For a chocolate fix I discovered that chocolate syrup (the kind for ice cream and chocolate milk) is dairy free.  Not bad poured over bananas with a spoon. :)

But even better than that was a recipe for dairy free fudge I had saved!  Woohoo!  Mine didn't set up, but I didn't really care.  It was chocolate!

And every mama needs chocolate, right?

4 Months

Yay! Four months is a celebration to me, of making it past the first 3 months.  Those first 3 months are a doozy, but once you are good and clear of those there are more fun & games than tears.  And even if you aren't quite there yet there is usually the promise of better sleep on the horizon. :)

We are all enjoying baby smiles and chuckles (we call them courtesy laughs).  Dale and Alan both love helping take care of Daniel, and he is definitely still Brooklyn's favorite baby doll. 

As I posted earlier this week, he's had some trouble that we attributed to allergies.  I've made some changes in my diet hoping to get him some relief asap.

Some of our babies have started solids this early, but Daniel doesn't seem the least bit interested, so the plan is just to continue nursing for now.  Most nights he still wakes up every 3 or 4 hours, but some nights he'll surprise me with a 5 or 6 hour stretch.  Naps are fairly predictable (with a morning, afternoon, and usually an evening) and (maybe? fingers crossed!) getting a little longer.

Happy baby days!

Chicken. Fruit. Veggies.

I was talking with a friend this weekend that having 5 kids doesn't mean we've got everything all figured out.  We haven't cracked some parenting formula that makes it easy.  

You know why?  Because every child really is different.  Child two is different from child one.  Child three is different from children two and one.  Child four is different from three, two, and one.

Not surprisingly, Child five is different from all four that came before him.

After making our own observations (two months of a stuffy nose and skin problems), discussing them with a trusted family friend (and nurse), and doing a little bit of internet reading, we're convinced Daniel has allergy trouble.

He's exclusively breastfed, so that means whatever is causing his trouble has to be eliminated from my diet to be eliminated from his.

For the greatest chances of quick relief for Daniel, I have decided to eliminate all of the biggest triggers: dairy, eggs, wheat, and nuts.

This course of action certainly doesn't make me feel like super mom.  In fact, I've felt rather sorry for myself!  Self-pity will only make things worse, so I'm taking the first course of action that comes to mind with any of life's little happenings: blog about it!

Y'all have been with me for a liver transplant and all that entailed, the announcement and birth of 3 children, homeschooling, getting a dog, and countless tales of daily life.  Why not share this little adventure as well?

Starting today, I have completely cut all dairy, eggs, wheat and nuts.  Hopefully we'll see a difference soon in Daniel.  In a few weeks I will add each category back one at a time.

The wheat and nuts will be a pain (hello! no pbj's!) but I can work around it. 

I'll miss the eggs and will be a little challenged cooking some things without them, but again, I can deal with it.

But the dairy?  Ohhhh dairy how I will miss you.  Cheese, chocolate, sour cream, cheese, milk, butter, chocolate... the loss of dairy is where the whining rears its ugly head!

I love cheese. I really love cheese.  And chocolate.

*Sigh*

And here's the real kicker: I'm 95% certain it's the dairy causing sweet baby boy's problems.

I am hoping he will do great after I eliminate these things.  Then I fully expect to add back wheat, nuts, and eggs with no problems.  If that's how it goes down, I won't even bother testing the dairy.  

The good news is he won't be nursing forever, and he should outgrow this little allergy in a few years. I cooked dairy-free for over a year around 2009-2010 for other reasons, so for our main meal each day I'm not too worried about coming up with a plan.
As far as the blogging, I don't plan on whining and complaining.  But I thought we could  share some food ideas.

My biggest concerns are: 
1. being hungry
2. losing weight
3. what to eat for breakfast

I figure I'll manage to take of #1 just fine: Eat.  All the time, if necessary. :)
#2.... I'm looking for other fat sources besides dairy fats.  Plus I figure #1 will help too.
#3.  Breakfast.  I have always enjoyed savory for breakfast just as much as sweet.  Even though eggs are off-limits for now I am intrigued by the idea of beans for breakfast.  I've heard the idea several times and it's always sounded appealing.  So I'm picturing corn tortillas and beans for some mornings.  Oatmeal is another option.  And green smoothies with rice milk.

Do you have allergy experience?  Do tell!

100 Days of Daniel

3 months on the 14th and 100 days today!

Not the best sleeping baby we've ever had.  At least a couple of the others were doing some 5-6-7 hour stretches by this point.  Not this boy. He's more of a "I'll see you in 3 or 4 hours" type. 

He makes up for it by being more content during the day than certain others of ours have been.  Oh he still likes to be held a lot, but he is pretty easy going in general.

He's got plenty of smiles for everyone, and is incredibly tolerant of all Brooklyn's lovin'.  And that's a good thing, because Brooklyn is In. Luv.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I can't wait to watch their relationship develop in the coming months and years.

Daniel celebrated his 100th day by rolling over (tummy to back) today. Alan watched me lay him down on his tummy in the play pen and we were both surprised to come back a moment later to find him on his back!  So we rolled him back over and he repeated his little trick twice more.

Bring on the next 100 days little buddy... we're ready! 

2 months old!

He's a big big boy!

We obviously have the nursing thing down.  

Next up: sleeping!  He's not doing too shabby for 2 months old: falls asleep by himself most of the time, and usually only wakes up once in the night and once in the pre-dawn hours.  Call me overly optimistic but I'm hoping we'll drop one of those feedings by the time another month rolls around.  Hey - it could happen!

Deck the halls. Or at least the kids!

This shirt was a gift from Daniel's Aunt Kristin.  It cracks me up!

1 Month!

Daniel turned 1 month old this week!

Things to note from our first month:

- His hair is not that funky orangey-green as the pic above shows.

It's a dark blonde, the lightest of any of our babies at birth.

- He is still nursing almost every 2 hours, 'round the clock.

- He likes to be in motion: bouncing, swinging, rocking.  

The bouncy seat and cradle are our best friends.

- Yesterday seems to be the day he 'woke up'.  Since then we've enjoyed several spells of him being more alert than before, and even smiling.  Don't tell us they're not real smiles.  We say we know a real smile when we see one!  Greg and I both had the same reaction to the new "awake" Daniel: "Welcome to the world!"

An incredibly long ramble about cloth diapering.

Once upon time, back in 2009 when I was pregnant with Tyler, I did a good bit of studying up on cloth diapering, and seriously considered switching.

For that matter, I think I might have also considered cloth diapers with Alan, but honestly... when liver disease entered our lives a lot of things changed... including the memories we have of Alan's baby days and the weeks leading up to his arrival.  Many of those details were overshadowed by or even replaced with Liver Disease.

But I digress... with Tyler I know I got right up to the edge, but chickened out.  Maybe it was the safety of sticking with what I knew, or maybe it was the fear of spending the money on a cloth diaper setup only to decide later I didn't like it.

So just as we had done twice before, we used disposables.  Two years later, I didn't even think twice about them with Brooklyn.

And then along comes my sister.  Kristin spent a large part of her pregnancy reading up on cloth diapers.  She learned all the types & styles, pros & cons, how-tos & how-not-tos.  Long before her bundle of joy arrived, he first orders of cloth diapering gear did.

Logan - 3 months

I've enjoyed having a front row seat to seeing how cloth diapering really works, and it seems to suit them well.  Even so, by the time we were expecting Daniel, we had been really blessed with lots and lots of disposable diapers.  Lots.  No really... we have a lot of diapers.

So once again, I haven't considered cloth an option for us.  With being gifted so many diapers, it wouldn't make sense to spend the money on a cloth setup.  

However... just a day or two after bringing Daniel home I was reminded of the problem we've had with every newborn boy: leaky diapers.

Wet pjs, wet blankets, wet sheets... no fun.

By comparison, Kristin had very very rarely had this problem with Logan in his cloth diapers, so on her first visit to meet her new nephew she brought a stack of her smallest diapers and covers for us to try.

I put them on Daniel sporadically for a few days, mainly because I just wanted to see what it was like. It was fun to try out the 'other side' and do things my sister's way, but then I went back to disposables.  It just seemed easier for some reason.

A few days ago I noticed Daniel had a consistently red bottom.  I used our favorite diaper cream a time or two, but it didn't seem to do much for him.  It wasn't quite a rash... just... red.  Then I had another idea to try: the cloth diapers!

So all day Monday I used only cloth on my baby's little tooshie.  And what do you know... by the end of the day... no red!

So... after all the rambling, what's my final verdict?

• I love the wholesome feeling of putting a soft cotton diaper on a baby bottom.
• The covers are cute and easy to use.

• Fastening with a snappi is super easy and quick.

• No leaks = awesomeness.

• Washing and drying them was not a big deal at all.

• Like his cousin Logan, Daniel seems to have less tolerance for a wet or dirty diaper when he is in cloth, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Will we be switching?  Probably not.  We have tons of free disposables, remember?  I can't imagine spending the money on cloth at this stage in the game for us.  If I had it to do over, knowing what I know now I would have bought them for Tyler, no doubt.  Look at the use we would have gotten by now!

I don't know all the details and lingo (I'm pretty sure the diapers Kristin loaned us are prefolds), but if you are interested in cloth diapering I would encourage you to visit Kristin at her blog!

Snug as a bug in a...

I've always heard it said that if you didn't have anything else for baby to sleep in, a laundry basket would do in a pinch.

Guess what? 

It's true!

Today I had just finished nursing Daniel when Brooklyn needed a little TLC from a headbump or some other 13-month-old malady.  

Getting up from our cozy seat on the couch, I snuggled Daniel down in the first place I saw:

And he slept there quite happily for an entire nap!

Maybe tomorrow I'll try a dresser drawer!

Where are some funny places your kids have slept?