It is Sunday morning and I am in the midst of a battle with Jenna. A battle that I really want to give into because it's so ridiculous, but the golden rule of parenting tells me that I must be consistent. And I know that when I am not consistent, I become a doormat to my children and it takes a while to correct that behavior.
In general, I like our family to be a little bit dressed up on Sunday--which translates to no jeans. I don't think it's wrong to wear jeans to church--in fact, we have all worn jeans before on a Sunday morning and all wore them last night at the Saturday service, but in general, I like to have one day that we all look a little bit nicer than usual. I guess in my mind, it makes Sunday a little bit different than the rest of the days and I like that.
I asked the girls to get dressed for church this morning on their own. Yes, it would be way easier to pick out their clothes and help them get dressed, but I am also a big fan of teaching independence. Abby came out in her purple sparkly dress (surprise, surprise) and Jenna came out in jeans and a cute shirt. I nicely asked her to put her khaki pants instead of her jeans and she flipped out. She said she looked so cute and didn't want to ruin the outfit.
I so wanted to give in. After all, wearing jeans to church isn't wrong and in the end, it's not a huge deal to me if she did, but at that particular moment it became an issue of her listening and following my directions. I couldn't give in, even though I really, really wanted to.
I showed her the pants that would work with her shirt, and she still refused. I felt like I was getting a preview of the teenaged years. She finally put the pants on, stomped downstairs, and is currently pouting on the couch telling me how I don't understand "fashion" and that it is my fault that she doesn't look cute today. :)
Consistency reigns for the moment and hopefully Jenna will listen to me next time I ask her to get her church clothes on. Until then, I guess I better start studying up on my six year old "fashion."
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
It Was Worth It
Monday's trip to the allergist was good. Nate came with me and helped with the "pricks." Abby took them like a champ, didn't cry, and even sat still while we waited for the results to turn up on her back. Two good things came out of this appointment: 1. Abby is not allergic to anything. I was suspicious of certain foods, but they call came up negative. Even though finding out that Abby had an allergy would have explained her asthma, I'm really happy that Abby doesn't have to deal with an allergy on top of asthma. 2. The doctor changed her course of treatment for her asthma. One of my biggest frustrations was that I was giving her this medicine that wasn't working. She took her off the inhalers and put her on Singulair. We will see if it works. I hope so:)
And just because I feel like sharing some of my opinions on happenings in the world, here's a few thoughts . . .
I am really disappointed in American Idol this year. We watched first "top 24" episodes this week and couldn't find any performance worth being excited for. The good thing is that I love Ellen DeGeneres and I love that she's a judge on the show. She's so funny.
I am really angry at Toyota. We bought a Toyota Sienna a few years ago mostly for the safety ratings and good reputation it has. And now we find out that they intentionally cut corners on safety, didn't issue recalls at the appropriate times, and even bragged about how much money they saved . . . all while people were dying. Our car has not been recalled, but it seems like many of the Toyota models are having trouble and just because our car hasn't been recalled doesn't mean that I trust that Toyota got it right with the Sienna. Next time we buy a car, Honda is looking really good right now.
I hate what Tiger Woods did to his family, but I am all for forgiveness and think he deserves it as much as anyone else does. I hope that he can turn his life around, save his marriage, and put his family back together. It might seem like a long shot, but I know that God can heal anything, and how awesome would that be if such a horrible situation could be turned around for good? Not condoning his behavior, but rooting for forgiveness here.
8-12 inches of snow are coming our way in the next 24 hours, and I'm off to go buy food and wood for our fireplace just in case we lose power. This storm is being called a snowicane, so I better be ready!
And just because I feel like sharing some of my opinions on happenings in the world, here's a few thoughts . . .
I am really disappointed in American Idol this year. We watched first "top 24" episodes this week and couldn't find any performance worth being excited for. The good thing is that I love Ellen DeGeneres and I love that she's a judge on the show. She's so funny.
I am really angry at Toyota. We bought a Toyota Sienna a few years ago mostly for the safety ratings and good reputation it has. And now we find out that they intentionally cut corners on safety, didn't issue recalls at the appropriate times, and even bragged about how much money they saved . . . all while people were dying. Our car has not been recalled, but it seems like many of the Toyota models are having trouble and just because our car hasn't been recalled doesn't mean that I trust that Toyota got it right with the Sienna. Next time we buy a car, Honda is looking really good right now.
I hate what Tiger Woods did to his family, but I am all for forgiveness and think he deserves it as much as anyone else does. I hope that he can turn his life around, save his marriage, and put his family back together. It might seem like a long shot, but I know that God can heal anything, and how awesome would that be if such a horrible situation could be turned around for good? Not condoning his behavior, but rooting for forgiveness here.
8-12 inches of snow are coming our way in the next 24 hours, and I'm off to go buy food and wood for our fireplace just in case we lose power. This storm is being called a snowicane, so I better be ready!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
It Better Be Worth It
Tomorrow, I have to take Abby to the allergist and it better be worth it. For those of you who have kids who have had to go to the allergist, you know the anxiety I am feeling. Abby is being tested for allergies (again) and this involves a blood draw and a whole bunch of pricks on her back to try to determine what is causing her asthma. We went through this last year and it was one of the hardest things to watch, because it's pretty painful for her. Why are we doing it again?
From the beginning. . . . when Abby was three months old, she coughed all night for three straight nights. I'm talking all night, every 30 to 60 seconds. But during the day she was fine and didn't cough at all. I took her to the doctor who accused me of being and overreactive mother. After firing him on the spot from being our pediatrician, he went on to tell me that this could be the beginning of an asthma issue for her.
A few years went by and she never had any signs of wheezing or trouble breathing, just this crazy cough. I knew that she was getting a cold because she would be up the night before the runny nose hit coughing every 30 to 90 seconds. I just thought she didn't handle colds well.
Then she had trouble breathing when we had wildfires in California. And she couldn't run or play without coughing uncontrollably. She would cough during the day and I couldn't take her out anywhere because all the other moms looked at me like I was inflicting this sick kid all over theirs. She just coughed and coughed and coughed.
My new pediatrician diagnosed her with asthma and got her started on inhalers. They worked a little bit . . . they helped decrease the coughing, but never got rid of it. So I am supposed to fill her with these medicines every day and not fully prevent these asthma symptoms. Last Spring, she saw an allergist in CA, but she tested negative for everything, although the doctor told me that #1 she refused to diagnose Abby with asthma because she was so young and #2 many kids that young might have allergies, but don't test positive for them.
So now we are a year out and the inhalers aren't helping at all. She's had 5 episodes of uncontrollable coughing since October and I am hoping that tomorrow's appointment will give us some answers. Her new pediatrician here in NY took one look at her and said that she definitely looks like "an allergy kid." She thinks that we are treating the asthma, but it's not helping because she has underlying allergies that aren't being treated.
I hate the idea of taking her to the doctor to have them prick her back many times and have to hold her down in order to do so. I don't really want to subject her to this, but I want to get her asthma under control because it's not getting better, in fact, it's getting worse.
It better be worth it.
From the beginning. . . . when Abby was three months old, she coughed all night for three straight nights. I'm talking all night, every 30 to 60 seconds. But during the day she was fine and didn't cough at all. I took her to the doctor who accused me of being and overreactive mother. After firing him on the spot from being our pediatrician, he went on to tell me that this could be the beginning of an asthma issue for her.
A few years went by and she never had any signs of wheezing or trouble breathing, just this crazy cough. I knew that she was getting a cold because she would be up the night before the runny nose hit coughing every 30 to 90 seconds. I just thought she didn't handle colds well.
Then she had trouble breathing when we had wildfires in California. And she couldn't run or play without coughing uncontrollably. She would cough during the day and I couldn't take her out anywhere because all the other moms looked at me like I was inflicting this sick kid all over theirs. She just coughed and coughed and coughed.
My new pediatrician diagnosed her with asthma and got her started on inhalers. They worked a little bit . . . they helped decrease the coughing, but never got rid of it. So I am supposed to fill her with these medicines every day and not fully prevent these asthma symptoms. Last Spring, she saw an allergist in CA, but she tested negative for everything, although the doctor told me that #1 she refused to diagnose Abby with asthma because she was so young and #2 many kids that young might have allergies, but don't test positive for them.
So now we are a year out and the inhalers aren't helping at all. She's had 5 episodes of uncontrollable coughing since October and I am hoping that tomorrow's appointment will give us some answers. Her new pediatrician here in NY took one look at her and said that she definitely looks like "an allergy kid." She thinks that we are treating the asthma, but it's not helping because she has underlying allergies that aren't being treated.
I hate the idea of taking her to the doctor to have them prick her back many times and have to hold her down in order to do so. I don't really want to subject her to this, but I want to get her asthma under control because it's not getting better, in fact, it's getting worse.
It better be worth it.
Monday, February 15, 2010
From Her Heart
On Valentine's Day, Nate set out a card and a balloon on the kitchen table for the girls so that they would see it when they woke up. Jenna was up first and Abby was still sleeping, so Jenna and I went downstairs together after Nate left. She walked into the kitchen first and saw the gifts. She was a little confused . . . she said, "Mommy, there are some weird things on the table that weren't there last night." I knew exactly what they were and encouraged her to find her name on the card.
We read the card together, and she was beaming! She was so incredibly happy that Nate left this surprise for her on Valentine's Day! She spent the whole morning trying to find ways to show him that she loved him. She found her "My heart belongs to Daddy" and put it on. She cleaned her room:) And then she made this . . . .
I particularly like the Barbie sticker on the first page and the eyes and nose made out of hearts! Jenna is such a sweet girl and this card totally came from her heart:)Wednesday, February 10, 2010
18 Week Baby Bump
Don't get used to this! I am not disciplined enough to take weekly pictures of myself pregnant. I think I only have a handful of pregnant pictures from both my pregnancies with the girls that actually came from our camera. Pregnancy doesn't make me feel so good--you know . . morning sickness, yucky maternity clothes that never fit, and for me, those lovely kidney stones. So this is 18 weeks, right before we found out that he's a boy! I was surprised and a little worried to find out that I haven't gained a whole lot of weight yet. I'm sure that's due to the morning sickness hanging on longer than usual this time. I am so waiting for that feeling of overwhelming hunger, and I think it's only happened a few times so far with this baby. Food kind of repulses me, and it's really most food. Nothing looks good to me, except the occasional Pizza Hut pizza or Golden Oreos. And this really disappoints me, because this is our last baby and I was looking forward to the excuse of being able to eat anything. Hopefully, that'll come in the next few months!
Thursday, February 04, 2010
It's a boy!
You will not see any boy parts in these pictures, but Nate and I CLEARLY saw them this morning at our sonogram! We are very happy to know that the baby is healthy and doing well so far. That is the most important thing!
Nate was sure we were having a girl, because he only thinks that he can have girls given our track record, but I had a feeling that this might be a boy. My mother-in-law told me three years ago that she dreamt that we were going to have a baby boy. At this point, Abby was one and quite the handful. I couldn't even imagine another baby and told her she was crazy. But here we are three years later, and pregnant with a boy:) She was right!
We are excited for this new adventure . . . buying Thomas the Train instead of Barbies, shopping in the boy section instead of the girl section. Nate will get to experience a child of the same sex and I will get to have momma's boy. A totally new experience, but a welcome one to our already wonderful family!
Nate was sure we were having a girl, because he only thinks that he can have girls given our track record, but I had a feeling that this might be a boy. My mother-in-law told me three years ago that she dreamt that we were going to have a baby boy. At this point, Abby was one and quite the handful. I couldn't even imagine another baby and told her she was crazy. But here we are three years later, and pregnant with a boy:) She was right!
We are excited for this new adventure . . . buying Thomas the Train instead of Barbies, shopping in the boy section instead of the girl section. Nate will get to experience a child of the same sex and I will get to have momma's boy. A totally new experience, but a welcome one to our already wonderful family!
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