Pleading their Case

Our children want a puppy.

This evening, they presented the following, well-thought out case to Iron Man in the hopes of convincing him to get them one for Christmas:

“Puppies are cuddly, puppies are cute,
They’re never nasty or mean…”

“Daddy, can we get a dog? ” This simple question brings a peal of laughter from you. “Why do you even want a puppy?”

“Everyone has a dog.”

“Now kids, not everyone has a dog, but I understand what you mean. I have an answer for your question: NO!” Now is that your only reason?

The same answer to that question. NO! We have a list of clever answers to all the questions and doubts you may have.

First of all, you may say, “You want a puppy this year, and if I buy you one, who knows? You might want a bunny next year!” To this, we answer, “A puppy can be our Christmas present for every year, and our birthday presents too!”

“Okay, but if you want a puppy, you better have a good name for him that I like,” you say. “All right, you can name him,” we answer, “but if you need some ideas we have a list:

Bolt, Marius, Rover, Big Red, ScoobyDoo,Tucker, Jack, Inky, Grace, Prince, Beethoven, Lady, Tramp, Perro, Caro, Pedro, Mario, Stretch, Snoopy, Scrappy, Ribsy, Fido, and last but not least, Angus.

Okay, these should help you name the dog. If you need any more names, please tell us. We would be happy to help.

You may say, “Naming the dog is easy. But I can’t train the dog. I just don’t have the time. No.” But we have an answer to that too. “We walk the dog. We will read books on how to train it, and if we need help, we will not ask you.”

“What about our allergies? You certainly do not have an answer to that, right?” Wrong. Google it, and you will get a list of dogs that don’t shed.

“What will we do when we go on vacation?” That problem is easily solved. Gram can “dogsit” for us when we go on vacation, and we’ll “dogsit” for her when she goes on vacation. (Side Note from Michelle: Right now, I suspect that Gram just heightened her interest in this case!)

Mom heard that dogs actually help with language and speech problems. Now think of how that would help George!

A dog could keep George busy, so George wouldn’t destroy the house. Just think of it-George not destroying the house! We would have a clean home.

Now we know what your next question will be, “What about the food?” We say, “If we get a dog, we’ll buy the food. Don’t you know how much money Gameboy has?”

We will potty train both the dog and George. First, we train the dog to go outside before doing his business, then we say to George, “What’s wrong with you, George? The wuff-wuff goes potty where he’s supposed to, and you don’t.” And everyone knows that George loves dogs and he will surely start going in the big boy potty and not in his pants! How cool is that?

You may say, “Someone has to walk the dog every day, and its not gonna be me!” Here’s the deal: You get us a dog, and we will walk him every day without complaining.

“Ha ha ha!” you say. “You think I’m about to buy you a dog if you walk him?!?”

“Yes,” we answer, “and if we do everything that we just listed. And we know that you love us, so there are our reasons.”

“I’d give a home to all the lost puppies,
If ever one day I were queen!”

“Arf!”

Iron Man was impressed by their persuasive appeal, but has not arrived at a verdict yet. Personally, I think schnoodles are awfully cute. I hear that they are hypo-allergenic. Just sayin’, ya know? I’m not taking sides. I’m Switzerland.

But, they are supposed to be good with children. I’ll zip it now.

Switzerland.

 

Fred’s eye

Thanks so much for the prayers for Fred’s eye.

Our little trooper is coming along just fine in his recovery. The doctor said that his eye had only 1/4 to 1/3 the scratches that he had yesterday, and he should be near 100% by Saturday or Sunday. I’m amazed that the eye heals as quickly as it does. God’s a good inventor, isn’t he?

As the doctor was applying Fred’s patch yesterday, I commented that a patch wasn’t quite going to do it; what Fred needs is a knight’s full-body suit of steel armor. Minus the sword.

 

Just an amusing little snippet of our day

I have a few stories to tell and pictures to share, but I’ve had a nasty flu over the last few days and am not quite up to posting them yet. Additionally, Iron Man is out of town for most of this week and every ounce of strength I have is being used to keep our home running at a bare minimum standard (ie, keeping food in the kids’ bellies, stopping little ones from hurting themselves or each other, and preventing the house from looking like the aftermath of a tornado). But I pause from my rest and duties to share this…

As I was in the kitchen a few moments ago, I heard a loud shriek coming from Princess. “What is it?” I asked her, suspecting that I knew exactly what it was.

“Look!! A bug!!” she answered. Just as I suspected; I’ve heard that shriek before.

“Show me,” I asked her, expecting to see an innocent little ladybug or housefly.

“There!” she said, pointing about 2 yards away to the lid of a toybox. No ladybugs here. I was looking at one of the ugliest, creepy-looking bugs that I have ever beheld.

Internally, I shrieked and shuddered right along with her. Outwardly, I put on my calm, “there’s-nothing-to-fret-over” face, glanced around for Gameboy (our usual bug-exterminator), and when I couldn’t find him, said, “Oh Princess, that little bug won’t hurt you. Now let’s just get a shoe and a napkin, and we’ll smush him.”

I then smiled a big, fake, happy smile to prove that I wasn’t the least bit creeped out. I think she fell for it. She calmed down pretty quickly.

I did the deed (blech!) and, still internally shuddering but outwardly collected and unaffected, flushed the horrible little monster down the toilet.

Where is Gameboy when you need him?

 

My Hero

How many men would be willing to take six children, from ages 2 to 11, to church by himself?

And how many men would forgo the nursery services, choosing to keep the children with him, in order to train them to sit well in a church service, to avoid sharing any yet-dormant germs, and to avoid bringing further germs home to his sick wife and three-week-old baby?

And how many would stop at the grocery store on the way home, bringing all six kids into the store, to pick up some soup for his sick wife?

And how many would do all these things when 1) his wife offered to keep the youngest kids at home, and 2) he was not even asked to go to the store?

I’m talking about Iron Man. Now see? He really is a superhero!

 

My Little Gymnast

My soon-to-be-born baby seems to have aspirations to be a professional gymnast, swimmer, or fish.

At 39 weeks in-utero, you would think that he would be in a nice, snug, head-down position in preparation for birth, right?

Or at least in a snug breech position. Or even in a snug transverse position. Snug in position somewhere, right?

Not this little guy. He continues to change his positions several times a day.

My Ob/Gyn has been monitoring his apparent comfort in the transverse (side-to-side) position for my last several visits. Last Friday (at 38 weeks), they recommended that in order to avoid a c-section, I schedule a date to have a version done to turn the baby head down, then induce afterward. I was sent for an ultrasound to check on the size of baby, amount of fluid, etc., to see how do-able this would be.

The ultrasound proved quite interesting. First of all, our baby was estimated to be 8 pounds 5 ounces. This was a week ago, so at an average of 1/2 a pound a week, he’s likely pushing 9 pounds by now.

Secondly, at the onset of the ultrasound, our little gymnast-boy had his head solidly on my right side while his bottom was solidly on my left side, a textbook transverse position.

By the conclusion of the ultrasound, he was head down and in perfect position for birth. Go figure.

Did he stay that way? Why, of course not! Our little guy has far too much energy for that. Iron Man is quite good at determining his position and checks my belly frequently. Gym-Baby switches positions a  few times a day. He has been head-down, head-up, head-right, head-left, and everything in between. Last night my chiropractor believed baby to be head-right. Today, my ob/gyn believed him to be head-left. I am amazed that he has the space to continue moving like this.

My ob/gyn has been practicing for 20-some years and said he’s never seen a baby quite like this before. I believe “obstinate” was the word he used. Could this be any indication of our boy’s yet-to-be-seen personality? Or does he just have ambitions of being an Olympic medalist someday, and can’t start preparing too young?

In any event, we are scheduled for the version and induction on Monday morning, unless we don’t make it that long. If Gym-Baby happens to already be head-down at that time, we will have the option to stay and induce, or go home. I am more of the mindset that I’d like to stay and induce while he is head-down, rather than risking him turning again before labor. If I go into labor while he is in a transverse, or even breech position, it would mean a c-section. While I will, of course, do whatever is safest for the baby, I really do not want a c-section. I have never had one and absolutely do not want one with my seventh baby… if can avoid it (while being safe), I will!

 

Mystery Rash Revealed

I took Fred and Princess to the pediatrician this morning. Fred, as a follow-up to his “Knex through the eardrum” episode, and Princess, in the hope to reveal the cause of the mystery rash.

Fred’s eardrum has grown back over, but it is still baby-tender and we need to continue to be careful with his ear. He can not immerse in water, and we need to be cautious in rinsing his hair when he takes a bath or shower. No infection, and he’ll be fine.

Princess’ rash turned out to be something called “Pityriasis Rosea,” and it is caused by a virus. What gave it away? Well, Princess had one patch on her leg which was larger than the others and looked a bit different. That larger patch is called a “Herald Patch” and it is a distinguishing aspect of this type of rash. The other spots have a chickenpox-y, measle-y appearance, but typically don’t itch.  It’s usually seen in people between ages 10 to adult, but it can occur in children. It is not dangerous and requires no treatment. The rash can affect any part of the body, but typically doesn’t go on the face. It lasts about four weeks.

In the event that you are interested in reading more about this, I found the following pages to be helpful:

• Web MD info on Pityriasis Rosea
• Good picture that shows the herald patch along with other spots
• More pictures

Such a relief to know that there is no danger to the baby or anyone else! Thank you to those who have been praying for us!

 

More on the Chicken Pox

Update: The Mystery Rash has been revealed! It’s actually something called “Pityriasis Rosea.” For more on this, read this post.

This chicken pox thing is very baffling to me. I’m now not sure whether they have the chicken pox after all. Princess’ rash did look like the beginnings of chicken pox, and she started with 30-40 spots. However, they never advanced through all the stages. They never turned yellow, never crusted over, never spread, and she never had any fever or lethargy. They barely even itched.

It’s been five days since we noticed the spots, and the spots have have simply reduced in number and become lighter. Here’s what Princess’ spots now look like:

George’s rash never did spread beyond his arm. He only has four small, pimply bumps. He has also had no other typical symptoms.

If anyone can shed some light for me, I would be very grateful! I have looked up every single rash in my medical guide book and on the internet, and I can’t find anything else that it could be. It just seems like an exceptionally mild case of chicken pox.

I just wish I knew for certain what it was, for two reasons.

1. If they have the chicken pox, then I need to keep other kids away from the baby when he’s born. If not, I’d rather let them all just enjoy their new little brother when we bring him home.
2. If they don’t have them, then we don’t want a false sense of security that they’ve developed immunity. We’ve always planned to get the kids the vaccination when they are 10-12 years old if they haven’t had the illness by then, so they can avoid the complications that can arise from chicken pox in adulthood.

The nurse did say that there’s a blood test that we can get, to find out whether or not they’ve had chicken pox. If we have no tell-tale signs that this is indeed chicken pox, we’ll probably have to get them the test at some point.

So what do you think? Any idea what this rash could be?

 

Back Pain in Pregnancy

I often use my blog as a place to share tips that I have learned. Every so often, though, I use it as a way to seek advice from you. This is one of those posts.

I have a history of a bad back. From the time I was nine or ten years old, I had a lot of pain in my lower back. I had surgery shortly after the birth of my fourth baby, and that pretty much took care of that problem. I still get a twinge there every so often, especially during pregnancy, but it is very tolerable. I just need to mention that for the sake of my family and friends whose alarm is raised when I mention “back pain.” Don’t worry, guys, it’s not that this time.

The problem I am having presently is in the middle of my back, just around the bra line, on the left side. It’s a feeling that my muscles are being pulled, which I’m sure they are, due to the supporting the excess baby weight. I get this in every pregnancy, and I know it will go away after our little boy is born. However, it is more intense this time, and if there is something I can do to make it easier to deal with for the next two months, I want to do it!

It is particularly bad while I’m trying to sleep. When I lay on my left side, the pain becomes intense in my back. When I lay on my right side, the pain moves around to the front of my ribs. When I lay on my back, the pain goes away, but that creates a host of other problems. On my back, my already low blood pressure plummets even further, giving me a dizzy/faint feeling. I do use a body pillow, as well as four other pillows which I arrange in various ways.

I generally wake up every 20-30 minutes at night to change position – all night, every night. I alternate between my side and my back, switching when the pain or the dizziness become too severe. Of course, I fall asleep quickly between each change of position, but it’s been about 2 weeks since I’ve had more than a half hour of consecutive sleep, and it’s wearing on me.

I have not been able to find any helpful suggestions on the internet or in any of my books, so I thought I’d reach out and see if any of my wise readers have had experience in dealing with this.

If you don’t have any tips for me, I’d appreciate a little mention in your prayers!

 

A birthday fit for a princess

Princess celebrated her 4th birthday this week! In true princess style, our daughters all dressed as princesses during the birthday dinner. You see before you: Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. It was quite an event.

Of course, the cake had to be pink.

In honor of Princess’ four years, each of us would like to share four special things that we love about her.

From Polly:

1. She loves dolls
2. Her voice is so cute
3. She likes princesses
4. She shares her toys

From Gameboy:

1. She calls me “Buddy”
2. She cares about everybody
3. She is nice to me
4. She is my sister

From Bubbles:

1. She helps me
2. She cries if she thinks someone is getting left behind when we go in the van
3. She is very talkative
4. She is very cute

From Fred:

1. She always plays with me
2. She loves me
3. She plays house with me in the treehouse
4. She’s my sister

From Mommy:

1. She loves to cuddle
2. She lets me do her hair
3. She sings so prettily
4. The sound of princess shoes clicking through the halls

From Daddy:

1. Pink Princesses
2. Hugs & Cuddles
3. Big Laughs!
4. Did I mention Pink Princesses?

Happy Birthday to our little Princess!

 

Resting for a few days

For the past several days, I have had a strange pain in my chest. Not a severe or sharp pain, but dull and constant. The “constant” part was what began to concern me, so I mentioned it to Iron Man. He reminded me that on Thursday, just before the onset of these pains, I made my monthly trip to the dairy farm to buy raw milk. He suggested that perhaps I strained or pulled a muscle while lifting the milk coolers. Bingo! I imitated the lifting movement to tense the muscles, and the pain immediately became more severe.

A few days of rest are all that are needed.

I am relieved that there is nothing serious going on, and thankful that Iron Man pinpointed the problem, thus alleviating my worries. At the same time, I am a little put out by this. I know that it will not be easy to simply rest. This is not due a lack of opportunity to get the rest I need. I have several sets of sweet little hands willing to help me, no big pressing jobs that I absolutely must attend to, and a few weeks left until homeschooling resumes. The problem is me. I just don’t want to slow down. I have this pressing feeling that since my 2nd trimester of pregnancy is almost over, I need to do as much as possible while I still have some energy left. Silly, huh? Yeah, I guess it does sound really silly now that I type it out.

So, I’m going to take a few days to rest, and attend only to the essentials. If you happen to stop by, you’ll just have to forgive me if the house isn’t up to par!