I received a phone call today from Micah's doctor. They had the results of his allergy tests.
We tested five things last week and the results were very interesting.
Strawberries- reaction was very low. I can eat these all I want. :)
Rice- reaction was very low. Again, I can eat them and not worry.
Bananas- reaction was HIGH. DO NOT EAT!! Surprisingly, this is what caused the hives last week!
Soy- reaction was moderately high. The doctor recommended that I keep avoiding soy.
Dogs- reaction was very high. Higher than any of the foods! They told me to be very careful around dogs and if he breaks out in hives or has trouble beathing, I should get him to the hospital right away!
This totally explains why we ran to the hospital last week. I had just been getting back on bananas myself and had started to feed them to Micah. On Tuesday, I had fed him some as a snack and then we had them in smoothies on Wednesday. I usually don't eat the same food two days in a row, but I did that day! In a way, I am sort of glad he broke out so bad, so now I can figure this out!
Even though we have these results, it still doesn't explain why he's been so bad these last couple of days. He was on Claritin until Sunday and I haven't given him any since. He is a complete wreck!! His cheeks are all flared up again and he has his eczema back under his chin and behind his knees. He has been having screaming fits and kicking and flaring his legs. It's like it came back worse than before!!
I will definitely be giving him some more Claritin tomorrow. I also want to do a full allergy panel now and see if anything else is going on. I personally think there is more to the whole story than just bananas and dogs! The doctor said we could do a full panel when he is a year old. I guess we can continue to treat the symptoms until then.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Sleep is messed up!
My poor baby does not know what is good for him or for his mother anymore!!
After last week's breakout of hives, we put him on Claritin to see if his eczema would clear up and it did! Along with this, he slept a whole lot better!! For the couple weeks before his major flare up, he was up in the middle of the night again. (I have been up soooo much more with this kid in the middle of the night than I did with any other kid! It's kind of a routine anymore. I hear Micah, I get up, shut the girls' door, shut my bedroom door, flip the hall light on, pick Micah up out of bed, and then deal with him. Usually I am up at least an hour with him and sometimes it's 3-4 hours. In the middle of the night.)
I am so glad this is my 4th kid and I have realized that sleep is not so precious anymore.
Anyway, I stopped giving Micah Claritin a couple of days ago and his eczema is back ALONG with him being up in the middle of the night. Last night I laid him down around 9:30 pm and said to Matt, "I hope I don't get a 2 am wakeup call tonight." He was up at 2 am the night before.
Well, I had an 11:10 pm wakeup call. I was ok with going in this time because he didn't fully nurse like he should have at 9. I finished nursing him and I was back in bed by 11:30. I thought SURELY he would sleep all night.
Wrong!! 3:30 am. Micah was wide awake and crying. I went in there and he was sitting up in his bed wide awake. I picked him up and he just sat on my lap and looked around. I tried to rock him back to sleep, but this never works! I don't even know why I try anymore! I have learned the easiest thing to do is to put him on the floor and let him play a little bit. Usually within an hour, he is ready to go back to bed. I put him on the floor and grabbed some of his blankets and made myself a pillow to lay down as he played. He played for about an hour and then got fussy again, so I picked him up and nursed him. Usually this puts him back to sleep. (And no, this boy should not be hungry at 4:30 in the morning!)
After he was done, he was not asleep. GRRR!! Now it was about 5 am. He was still wide awake, and I was tired of looking at the same four walls, so I took him downstairs. I checked my Facebook and email and he played in his walker. It was about 5:30 am at this time. I heard Matt get up upstairs and start to get ready for work. Finally at about 5:45 am, I could tell he was starting to get tired, so I turned the TV on and sat down in the rocking chair. Finally, he snuggled up to his blankets and went back to sleep. 2 1/2 hours later!
It was now 6 am and I debated Should I just stay up or go back to bed? Going back to bed was the obvious answer! I laid him back down in his bed and went back to bed myself. I thought, I cannot survive on four hours of sleep. I fell asleep shortly after going back to bed.
I heard Micah talking to himself around 8:45 am, and Megan went in and got him. It took me a little bit to wake up since I was so tired. Obviously I had let the kids sleep in, and they were just waking up themselves.
It is now 5 pm and he hasn't napped ALL DAY!! He is obviously tired, but will not give in. I sure hope we are not up again tonight!!!
After last week's breakout of hives, we put him on Claritin to see if his eczema would clear up and it did! Along with this, he slept a whole lot better!! For the couple weeks before his major flare up, he was up in the middle of the night again. (I have been up soooo much more with this kid in the middle of the night than I did with any other kid! It's kind of a routine anymore. I hear Micah, I get up, shut the girls' door, shut my bedroom door, flip the hall light on, pick Micah up out of bed, and then deal with him. Usually I am up at least an hour with him and sometimes it's 3-4 hours. In the middle of the night.)
I am so glad this is my 4th kid and I have realized that sleep is not so precious anymore.
Anyway, I stopped giving Micah Claritin a couple of days ago and his eczema is back ALONG with him being up in the middle of the night. Last night I laid him down around 9:30 pm and said to Matt, "I hope I don't get a 2 am wakeup call tonight." He was up at 2 am the night before.
Well, I had an 11:10 pm wakeup call. I was ok with going in this time because he didn't fully nurse like he should have at 9. I finished nursing him and I was back in bed by 11:30. I thought SURELY he would sleep all night.
Wrong!! 3:30 am. Micah was wide awake and crying. I went in there and he was sitting up in his bed wide awake. I picked him up and he just sat on my lap and looked around. I tried to rock him back to sleep, but this never works! I don't even know why I try anymore! I have learned the easiest thing to do is to put him on the floor and let him play a little bit. Usually within an hour, he is ready to go back to bed. I put him on the floor and grabbed some of his blankets and made myself a pillow to lay down as he played. He played for about an hour and then got fussy again, so I picked him up and nursed him. Usually this puts him back to sleep. (And no, this boy should not be hungry at 4:30 in the morning!)
After he was done, he was not asleep. GRRR!! Now it was about 5 am. He was still wide awake, and I was tired of looking at the same four walls, so I took him downstairs. I checked my Facebook and email and he played in his walker. It was about 5:30 am at this time. I heard Matt get up upstairs and start to get ready for work. Finally at about 5:45 am, I could tell he was starting to get tired, so I turned the TV on and sat down in the rocking chair. Finally, he snuggled up to his blankets and went back to sleep. 2 1/2 hours later!
It was now 6 am and I debated Should I just stay up or go back to bed? Going back to bed was the obvious answer! I laid him back down in his bed and went back to bed myself. I thought, I cannot survive on four hours of sleep. I fell asleep shortly after going back to bed.
I heard Micah talking to himself around 8:45 am, and Megan went in and got him. It took me a little bit to wake up since I was so tired. Obviously I had let the kids sleep in, and they were just waking up themselves.
It is now 5 pm and he hasn't napped ALL DAY!! He is obviously tired, but will not give in. I sure hope we are not up again tonight!!!
Friday, August 26, 2016
Adding more stress to the week
As if having a flood in the basement wasn't enough, we also made a trip to the ER on Wednesday!!
I fed Micah a strawberry, banana smoothie (using rice milk) and almost right away, the area around his mouth starting turning red and he was starting to get hives on his forehead.
This all kind of went away, so I let it be, but I noticed that his eyes were also red and a little swollen.
I went on with my day, but he would not settle down. He was up at 4:45 that morning, so I assumed he was just tired and fighting it. He hadn't been taking very good naps, so I thought it was just something we had to get through until he finally fell asleep.
About 10, I finally decided that I could not teach school and deal with such a fussy baby, so I put him in the stroller and took him outside. Sometimes a nice walk helps him to get to sleep.
This worked for a little bit, but after awhile, he just kept screaming! I didn't know what to do anymore with this boy!
I stopped pushing him and went around to pick him up. I noticed right away that his cheeks were bright red and there were hives on the back of his neck. I then noticed that his chin was swollen. I ran him back to the house and told the kids that we were going to the ER!! I know that swelling around the neck causes kids to stop breathing and I did NOT want that to happen.
I have never seen my kids get into the car so fast AND without any fighting! I buckled Micah into his carseat and headed down Dodge Street towards Children's Hospital. Micah was full force screaming at this point and every time he quieted down, I told the kids to irritate him to keep him screaming. I figure if he was screaming, I knew he was breathing!
Once we got to Children's, I set him on the desk and said, "My baby is having an allergic reaction!!" A nurse came out right away and listened to his lungs. I think she weanted to know if he needed an epi pen. His lungs sounded fine, but they still got us back to a room right away. (I have never gotten taken back so quickly before!!) The doctor came in shortly after and ordered some Benadryl to take it down. The nurse said his lungs were clear and he was not wheezing, so we didn't have to worry about that anymore.
About twenty minutes later, they brought him some Benadryl and he CRASHED hard!
He slept in my lap for over an hour.
His rash was where his eczema always breaks out, near his sweat glands. They were around his diaper line, belly button, armpits, even on his hands and feet.
Eventually the doctor came in and said it was atopic dermatitis and insisted that he touched something. I said, "Um, ok" and let it be. I knew very well that he did not touch anything and that it was probably from the banana strawberry smoothie I made for breakfast.
We were home by about 2:15 pm. I think we arrived at the hospital around 11 am.
Here we are wake and ready to go home.
I took him to see his pediatrician yet that night and she said that yes, they were definitely hives (even thought he ER doctor said they weren't) and to keep him on antihistamines for a couple of days. She said it was definitely an allergic reaction to something and we ended up taking blood for an allergy test. She was more helpful than the ER doctor! By about 5 that night, they hives had faded quite a bit.
She also told me to go back off of all the foods that I had reintroduced into my diet in the last two months. She said it was probably just a combination of everything.
Here we are the next morning, not so red and happy!
Those anti-histamines work great! It is totally clearing up his eczema!
I fed Micah a strawberry, banana smoothie (using rice milk) and almost right away, the area around his mouth starting turning red and he was starting to get hives on his forehead.
This all kind of went away, so I let it be, but I noticed that his eyes were also red and a little swollen.
I went on with my day, but he would not settle down. He was up at 4:45 that morning, so I assumed he was just tired and fighting it. He hadn't been taking very good naps, so I thought it was just something we had to get through until he finally fell asleep.
About 10, I finally decided that I could not teach school and deal with such a fussy baby, so I put him in the stroller and took him outside. Sometimes a nice walk helps him to get to sleep.
This worked for a little bit, but after awhile, he just kept screaming! I didn't know what to do anymore with this boy!
I stopped pushing him and went around to pick him up. I noticed right away that his cheeks were bright red and there were hives on the back of his neck. I then noticed that his chin was swollen. I ran him back to the house and told the kids that we were going to the ER!! I know that swelling around the neck causes kids to stop breathing and I did NOT want that to happen.
I have never seen my kids get into the car so fast AND without any fighting! I buckled Micah into his carseat and headed down Dodge Street towards Children's Hospital. Micah was full force screaming at this point and every time he quieted down, I told the kids to irritate him to keep him screaming. I figure if he was screaming, I knew he was breathing!
Once we got to Children's, I set him on the desk and said, "My baby is having an allergic reaction!!" A nurse came out right away and listened to his lungs. I think she weanted to know if he needed an epi pen. His lungs sounded fine, but they still got us back to a room right away. (I have never gotten taken back so quickly before!!) The doctor came in shortly after and ordered some Benadryl to take it down. The nurse said his lungs were clear and he was not wheezing, so we didn't have to worry about that anymore.
About twenty minutes later, they brought him some Benadryl and he CRASHED hard!
He slept in my lap for over an hour.
During this time, Matt took the kids over to Pepperjax to get lunch. (I called him at work and he came to Children's too). He then brought me back some too. :)
The doctor kept coming in to check on him. The hives were getting darker the longer we sat there. When Matt and the kids came back from lunch, they actually said he looked worse.
Eventually the doctor came in and said it was atopic dermatitis and insisted that he touched something. I said, "Um, ok" and let it be. I knew very well that he did not touch anything and that it was probably from the banana strawberry smoothie I made for breakfast.
We were home by about 2:15 pm. I think we arrived at the hospital around 11 am.
Here we are wake and ready to go home.
I took him to see his pediatrician yet that night and she said that yes, they were definitely hives (even thought he ER doctor said they weren't) and to keep him on antihistamines for a couple of days. She said it was definitely an allergic reaction to something and we ended up taking blood for an allergy test. She was more helpful than the ER doctor! By about 5 that night, they hives had faded quite a bit.
She also told me to go back off of all the foods that I had reintroduced into my diet in the last two months. She said it was probably just a combination of everything.
Here we are the next morning, not so red and happy!
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Flood!
This is what happens with a pipe breaks that connects your main water line to the water softener...
And the water came from the other side of the wall that is to the right of the picture. :(
And of course, if I would have listened to Matt right away, there wouldn't have been near as much water on the floor! He told me exactly which valve to turn off when I called him, but I was too stressed out and he wasn't making much sense to me! I eventually got the right one though!
Hopefully the floor to Matt's office is not ruined.
Matt and I are soooo glad we were home when this happened. Could you imagine if we were gone?? We would have had MUCH MORE damage!!!
And of course, if I would have listened to Matt right away, there wouldn't have been near as much water on the floor! He told me exactly which valve to turn off when I called him, but I was too stressed out and he wasn't making much sense to me! I eventually got the right one though!
Hopefully the floor to Matt's office is not ruined.
Matt and I are soooo glad we were home when this happened. Could you imagine if we were gone?? We would have had MUCH MORE damage!!!
I should've known!
Micah sleeps a maximum of eight hours a night.
Last night, he was asleep and in his bed by 9 pm. I thought it was wonderful!! I had an hour to do NOTHING and not talk to ANYBODY! It was very nice! (For the record, he is usually in bed by about 9:30, sometimes 10-10:30.)
But I knew there was a price to pay. He was awake at 4:45 am this morning.
I went in there at this time because he cannot stand to be alone and fed him. Otherwise he would just keep screaming.
While I was feeding him, I felt my shirt get warm. Yes, he was peeing on me! I then smelled something a little fishy. Yep, his poopy diaper was leaking too. 5 am and I had already gotten peed and pooped on!!
Once we got everything changed, we were wide awake and ready to play.
Now it's almost time for the big kids to get up and Micah is ready to go back to bed.
Last night, he was asleep and in his bed by 9 pm. I thought it was wonderful!! I had an hour to do NOTHING and not talk to ANYBODY! It was very nice! (For the record, he is usually in bed by about 9:30, sometimes 10-10:30.)
But I knew there was a price to pay. He was awake at 4:45 am this morning.
I went in there at this time because he cannot stand to be alone and fed him. Otherwise he would just keep screaming.
While I was feeding him, I felt my shirt get warm. Yes, he was peeing on me! I then smelled something a little fishy. Yep, his poopy diaper was leaking too. 5 am and I had already gotten peed and pooped on!!
Once we got everything changed, we were wide awake and ready to play.
Now it's almost time for the big kids to get up and Micah is ready to go back to bed.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Staff development days anyone?
When you are a homeschool teacher, you need to manage a little bit of everything at a time.
My goal for this weekend is to not only manage a very fussy and clingy Micah, but also get EVERYTHING ready for school!
Can I just have a few hours where I can do nothing but prepare for school?? Is that even possible around here??
I feel that my thoughts are all over the place with three different grades, new\different curriculums, and how we are just going to make this all work tomorrow.
I guess if things don't go smoothly tomorrow, I always have the next day. And really, I am on my own schedule and can make it work how I feel it should go.
There will certainly be some trials and tribulations this week as we get this all sorted out!
My goal for this weekend is to not only manage a very fussy and clingy Micah, but also get EVERYTHING ready for school!
Can I just have a few hours where I can do nothing but prepare for school?? Is that even possible around here??
I feel that my thoughts are all over the place with three different grades, new\different curriculums, and how we are just going to make this all work tomorrow.
I guess if things don't go smoothly tomorrow, I always have the next day. And really, I am on my own schedule and can make it work how I feel it should go.
There will certainly be some trials and tribulations this week as we get this all sorted out!
Friday, August 19, 2016
DONE!!
We are officially DONE with school!!
Megan decided to take her chapter test AND her final in English today, so she did and scored very well!
Courtney also finished her English.
Time to put away those books and get out the next set!
7th grade and 4th grade, here we come!
Megan decided to take her chapter test AND her final in English today, so she did and scored very well!
Courtney also finished her English.
Time to put away those books and get out the next set!
7th grade and 4th grade, here we come!
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Who did this??
These are my favorite chocolate chips in the entire world and I have been able to eat them because they do not have ANY milk products in them.
Yummy!!
Except just lately, somebody decided to add "milk powder" to them and now they are not dairy free anymore!!!
I can even tell a difference in how they taste and I am not happy. :(
Who did this ??
So Close!!
Courtney is officially done with 4th grade math and Megan finished up 6th grade math today!!
Tomorrow, Courtney will be taking her final test in 3rd grade English and that is DONE!
We went through the last three lessons of Megan's English today and tomorrow, we will go over the review together, and then she will do her test. How is that for efficiency?? Unfortunately, she has a final over the entire book, so that will have to wait until Monday. Megan did say today though that she is willing to go to school on Saturday just to get everything done before Monday!
I am getting everything ready to start afresh on Monday, which will be our first day of school. I actually ordered Courtney a desk today from Wal.Mart. Since our basement isn't done yet, I decided to put the girls in my office for now. Megan already does all her homework on my desk, so I thought I would just buy Courtney a desk, and put her in there too. They will be doing some history assignments together. The computer is in there too, and they will need to do research on it for history. Courtney is also going to learn to type this year. They may be spending quite bit of time in my office!
As I was looking forward in next year's math book for Megan, I was kind of shocked. Almost every lesson is a repeat of something she learned in 6th grade. I did not find one new concept until the second half of the book. There were three chapters of completely new information (out of 12). I know that most kids have a three month break over the summer, so they need the review, but we JUST learned a lot of this information! I talked to Matt, and I am contemplating trying to finish the 7th grade book by December. I would then start the 8th grade book in January. If I was able to finish the 8th grade book by next fall, I would go ahead and start Megan in Algebra I as an 8th grader. This would give her another year of math before college. She catches onto math very easily, so this just may work! I just need to figure out HOW to make it work.
I think we are also going to skip the first chapter of Courtney's math, but we are going to do a lesson a day like we usually do. She will be starting 5th grade math (as a 4th grader), so she is already a year ahead.
As for everything else, we are just going to start from the beginning and work our way through everything. It will be nice getting back to more schoolwork and moving through the curriculum.
I just hope Micah cooperates!!! If he is not cooperating, the girls have plenty of independent work to keep them busy while I deal with him. :)
Tomorrow, Courtney will be taking her final test in 3rd grade English and that is DONE!
We went through the last three lessons of Megan's English today and tomorrow, we will go over the review together, and then she will do her test. How is that for efficiency?? Unfortunately, she has a final over the entire book, so that will have to wait until Monday. Megan did say today though that she is willing to go to school on Saturday just to get everything done before Monday!
I am getting everything ready to start afresh on Monday, which will be our first day of school. I actually ordered Courtney a desk today from Wal.Mart. Since our basement isn't done yet, I decided to put the girls in my office for now. Megan already does all her homework on my desk, so I thought I would just buy Courtney a desk, and put her in there too. They will be doing some history assignments together. The computer is in there too, and they will need to do research on it for history. Courtney is also going to learn to type this year. They may be spending quite bit of time in my office!
As I was looking forward in next year's math book for Megan, I was kind of shocked. Almost every lesson is a repeat of something she learned in 6th grade. I did not find one new concept until the second half of the book. There were three chapters of completely new information (out of 12). I know that most kids have a three month break over the summer, so they need the review, but we JUST learned a lot of this information! I talked to Matt, and I am contemplating trying to finish the 7th grade book by December. I would then start the 8th grade book in January. If I was able to finish the 8th grade book by next fall, I would go ahead and start Megan in Algebra I as an 8th grader. This would give her another year of math before college. She catches onto math very easily, so this just may work! I just need to figure out HOW to make it work.
I think we are also going to skip the first chapter of Courtney's math, but we are going to do a lesson a day like we usually do. She will be starting 5th grade math (as a 4th grader), so she is already a year ahead.
As for everything else, we are just going to start from the beginning and work our way through everything. It will be nice getting back to more schoolwork and moving through the curriculum.
I just hope Micah cooperates!!! If he is not cooperating, the girls have plenty of independent work to keep them busy while I deal with him. :)
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Finally a plan for next school year!
For the last month or so, I have been trying to get everything I need for the next school year, but I didn't quite know when we were going to start. We are still working on stuff from last year, and I really want that all done before we move forward. I think the girls are tired of working on these subjects. Honestly, I wish we could just get it done too! They keep wanting to know if we can skip something!
Today I gave myself a deadline to finish it all. The deadline is Friday, August 19th. We must have 3rd and 6th grade English DONE along with 4th and 6th grade math. I think this is a very manageable goal. We will definitely have both math programs done by then, but will have to push English a little bit for Megan. I guess I will just have to figure something out! We should be able to finish Courtney's English without a problem by then too.
My goal then is to start everything new on Monday, August 22nd. This will be our first day of school for the 2016-2017 school year. This will also begin my 6th year of homeschooling. :)
Today I gave myself a deadline to finish it all. The deadline is Friday, August 19th. We must have 3rd and 6th grade English DONE along with 4th and 6th grade math. I think this is a very manageable goal. We will definitely have both math programs done by then, but will have to push English a little bit for Megan. I guess I will just have to figure something out! We should be able to finish Courtney's English without a problem by then too.
My goal then is to start everything new on Monday, August 22nd. This will be our first day of school for the 2016-2017 school year. This will also begin my 6th year of homeschooling. :)
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Comparison trap!
I have a neighbor who has a girl the same age as Megan, and they are both entering 7th grade. I have learned to stop talking to this neighbor about homeschooling, especially math. If it does come up, it usually turns into a "my daughter is further ahead of your daughter and if you don't put your daughter back into public school, your daughter will just get further behind and she won't be able to get into college."
A couple of months ago, we got on the subject of math and I walked away double guessing our decision on a math curriculum. Her daughter, in 6th grade, did pre-algebra and now for 7th grade, she will be doing Algebra I. Megan will be going into "6th grade Math." I even came home that day and looked to see what you learn in pre-algebra and looked to see what Megan was learning in 6th grade math. It was almost identical. My conclucions was that even thought my book wasn't titled "Pre-algebra", we were still covering it. That made me feel better.
Today I was talking to this mom today and I purposefully did not bring up school. Her daughter mentioned that she was going into Algebra I and it kind of hit a nerve again, but I refuse to get into that comparion trap.
Both of us are striving for a good education for our children and what we are using works for us! Maybe Megan can do Alegebra I in 7th grade, but why? Why do I need to push her way ahead? I would rather take our time and cover all the other itmes that she is probably missing in Algebra I, like balancing a checkbook, interest, percentages, etc.
Don't we all have the same goal with our children? To foster the love of learning and to provide them with a good education??
Don't even get me started on what she thinks about the fact that my kids don't play a musical instrument!!!
A couple of months ago, we got on the subject of math and I walked away double guessing our decision on a math curriculum. Her daughter, in 6th grade, did pre-algebra and now for 7th grade, she will be doing Algebra I. Megan will be going into "6th grade Math." I even came home that day and looked to see what you learn in pre-algebra and looked to see what Megan was learning in 6th grade math. It was almost identical. My conclucions was that even thought my book wasn't titled "Pre-algebra", we were still covering it. That made me feel better.
Today I was talking to this mom today and I purposefully did not bring up school. Her daughter mentioned that she was going into Algebra I and it kind of hit a nerve again, but I refuse to get into that comparion trap.
Both of us are striving for a good education for our children and what we are using works for us! Maybe Megan can do Alegebra I in 7th grade, but why? Why do I need to push her way ahead? I would rather take our time and cover all the other itmes that she is probably missing in Algebra I, like balancing a checkbook, interest, percentages, etc.
Don't we all have the same goal with our children? To foster the love of learning and to provide them with a good education??
Don't even get me started on what she thinks about the fact that my kids don't play a musical instrument!!!
Monday, August 8, 2016
The "M" Box
When I started teaching Christian how to read, I found these fun books at the library. In these books, the author takes one specific letter and centers the book around that letter. The main character has a box called his "sound box" and anything that starts with that particular letter goes into that sound box.
Here are a few examples of the books.
?
Here is a page from inside the book. Everything that starts with that certain letter goes in the sound box.
They are really fun to read and the kids love them!!
Today, Megan made her own "sound box" and the letter was M.
Can you guess WHO she put in her sound box??
Yes, Micah!!!
Do you see what else is in there? A microphone, a monkey, money, a book about Meriwether Lewis, "Mercy Me" CD, and another music CD.
Pretty funny, huh?? I certainly laughed!!
Here are a few examples of the books.
Here is a page from inside the book. Everything that starts with that certain letter goes in the sound box.
They are really fun to read and the kids love them!!
Today, Megan made her own "sound box" and the letter was M.
Can you guess WHO she put in her sound box??
Yes, Micah!!!
Do you see what else is in there? A microphone, a monkey, money, a book about Meriwether Lewis, "Mercy Me" CD, and another music CD.
Pretty funny, huh?? I certainly laughed!!
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Sick mama!
Do you know what happens when you are up with your 8 month old TWO nights in a row for 2-3 hours each night? (Wednesday night, we were up from 2:30-5:15 am and Thursday night, we were up from 1:30-3:45) AND mama gets NO nap during the day to catch up on sleep unlike the baby?
And then gets up early Saturday morning to go to a conference in town all day?
Mama gets sick. :(
I had been battling a sore throat for awhile, but when I don't get any sleep and get run down, it just culminates! Last night after I got home from the conference and from the car dealership (Matt bought a new car!), I could barely talk and my throat hurt so bad! I knew I needed sleep, so I took some Advil, put the kids to bed, and went to bed myself.
Thankfully Micah slept again all night, but we had to wake up early again this morning because we were supposed to serve in the church nursery at 9 am. I had no energy! My throat hurt so bad again that it still hurt to talk. I could feel it into my ears and up my neck.
I decided to stay home from church. I didn't even have enough energy to take a shower. I told Matt that I usually feel better by about 10 am and if we didn't have nursery, I probably could have gone. (And now it is 10:15 am and I do feel a lot better!) I also didn't want to infect all the kids that I would be taking care of at church.
I am home with Micah and trying to rest. I know that is what my poor body needs.
I know I am getting run down on a few fronts. We are in a couple weeks of transition here at our house, so I have more stress going on than just not getting enough sleep at night. Our gym classes finished last week and I let our gym membership expire, so now we are in school mode. I have almost all the books I need to teach three children next year, but I have to admit, it is kind of stressful thinking about going back to school full time in a week or two. I haven't done full time school since before Micah was born, but we need to get back to it. My mind is in so many different directions with all the curriculum, notebooks, children, etc. I almost feel like I am starting my homeschooling journey all over again! We are switching curriculums too, so I need to pre-read all the books and figure out how everything is going to work for the school year.
But before we start school, we need to finish last year's curriculum. Yes, we are still plowing through 4th and 6th grade Math and 3rd and 6th grade English. We have been working lately on these and I am trying to figure out if I can skip anything just to be done! I think we are going to skim the last five lessons or so in math since they are all review and be done there, but I really think we need to do the English lessons. We have about twelve left for Megan and about 8 for Courtney. I may go ahead and start history and science while we are still finishing these books up. I want to start a little bit at a time and add a subject every couple days or so until we are doing all our subjects in one day. When we are done with math and English, we will just start the next grade the next day. This is what we get for taking a two month break in November and December!! It was definitely be a juggling act for me this fall. And we can't forget about Micah in there and his needs!!!
I would also LOVE it if Matt could get the basement finished before we started school. Megan and Courtney are going to be doing more things independently this year, and they need space to work away from the kitchen. I was hoping we could get some desks set up down there for all the kids. All we need to do down there is finish putting up the woodwork and put some flooring down. That is it! Matt worked on it last weekend, but it doesn't look like he will have time this weekend or next. This has been a project over six years in the making! Can we just finish it??? (hint, hint Matt!!)
Courtney's birthday is also next weekend and we have two small parties planned for her. We also have another birthday party and a bridal shower next weekend. YIKES! Lots to do!!
Ok, back to the couch I go to keep resting and drinking water. :)
And then gets up early Saturday morning to go to a conference in town all day?
Mama gets sick. :(
I had been battling a sore throat for awhile, but when I don't get any sleep and get run down, it just culminates! Last night after I got home from the conference and from the car dealership (Matt bought a new car!), I could barely talk and my throat hurt so bad! I knew I needed sleep, so I took some Advil, put the kids to bed, and went to bed myself.
Thankfully Micah slept again all night, but we had to wake up early again this morning because we were supposed to serve in the church nursery at 9 am. I had no energy! My throat hurt so bad again that it still hurt to talk. I could feel it into my ears and up my neck.
I decided to stay home from church. I didn't even have enough energy to take a shower. I told Matt that I usually feel better by about 10 am and if we didn't have nursery, I probably could have gone. (And now it is 10:15 am and I do feel a lot better!) I also didn't want to infect all the kids that I would be taking care of at church.
I am home with Micah and trying to rest. I know that is what my poor body needs.
I know I am getting run down on a few fronts. We are in a couple weeks of transition here at our house, so I have more stress going on than just not getting enough sleep at night. Our gym classes finished last week and I let our gym membership expire, so now we are in school mode. I have almost all the books I need to teach three children next year, but I have to admit, it is kind of stressful thinking about going back to school full time in a week or two. I haven't done full time school since before Micah was born, but we need to get back to it. My mind is in so many different directions with all the curriculum, notebooks, children, etc. I almost feel like I am starting my homeschooling journey all over again! We are switching curriculums too, so I need to pre-read all the books and figure out how everything is going to work for the school year.
But before we start school, we need to finish last year's curriculum. Yes, we are still plowing through 4th and 6th grade Math and 3rd and 6th grade English. We have been working lately on these and I am trying to figure out if I can skip anything just to be done! I think we are going to skim the last five lessons or so in math since they are all review and be done there, but I really think we need to do the English lessons. We have about twelve left for Megan and about 8 for Courtney. I may go ahead and start history and science while we are still finishing these books up. I want to start a little bit at a time and add a subject every couple days or so until we are doing all our subjects in one day. When we are done with math and English, we will just start the next grade the next day. This is what we get for taking a two month break in November and December!! It was definitely be a juggling act for me this fall. And we can't forget about Micah in there and his needs!!!
I would also LOVE it if Matt could get the basement finished before we started school. Megan and Courtney are going to be doing more things independently this year, and they need space to work away from the kitchen. I was hoping we could get some desks set up down there for all the kids. All we need to do down there is finish putting up the woodwork and put some flooring down. That is it! Matt worked on it last weekend, but it doesn't look like he will have time this weekend or next. This has been a project over six years in the making! Can we just finish it??? (hint, hint Matt!!)
Courtney's birthday is also next weekend and we have two small parties planned for her. We also have another birthday party and a bridal shower next weekend. YIKES! Lots to do!!
Ok, back to the couch I go to keep resting and drinking water. :)
Friday, August 5, 2016
UP Again!
Micah has been doing sooooo well at night lately. He has sometimes slept up to 10 hours at a time and it has been wonderful! I thought our visits of 2-3 hours at 2 or 3 in the morning were over.
I was wrong.
Last night, we were up for awhile. He woke up at 2:45 and I let him cry a little bit. Around 3:15, I went in there because the other kids were starting to stir. After nursing, watching Olympic videos on the computer, lots of rocking, some more crying, and some sweet talking him into going back to sleep, he finally fell back to sleep about 5:15 this morning. Matt actually came into his room about 4:45 and was wondering what was going on. I refused to nurse him for a 2nd time to get him to sleep, so he was having quite a fit. He eventually fell asleep on my chest.
I went back to bed after he went back to sleep. Guess who was back up by 7:15? Micah!! What?? I got up, nursed him, and of course, he went back to sleep. I wish I could go back to bed!! But now I have the bigger kids to get up with!
After I got thinking about why we were up half the night when we had been doing so well, I thought about what I had to eat yesterday. I had been putting some of his foods back in my diet, and I had about five things off his list yesterday! (Three things at the same time for lunch) I probably just overloaded his body. I guess I won't do that again!!
I was wrong.
Last night, we were up for awhile. He woke up at 2:45 and I let him cry a little bit. Around 3:15, I went in there because the other kids were starting to stir. After nursing, watching Olympic videos on the computer, lots of rocking, some more crying, and some sweet talking him into going back to sleep, he finally fell back to sleep about 5:15 this morning. Matt actually came into his room about 4:45 and was wondering what was going on. I refused to nurse him for a 2nd time to get him to sleep, so he was having quite a fit. He eventually fell asleep on my chest.
I went back to bed after he went back to sleep. Guess who was back up by 7:15? Micah!! What?? I got up, nursed him, and of course, he went back to sleep. I wish I could go back to bed!! But now I have the bigger kids to get up with!
After I got thinking about why we were up half the night when we had been doing so well, I thought about what I had to eat yesterday. I had been putting some of his foods back in my diet, and I had about five things off his list yesterday! (Three things at the same time for lunch) I probably just overloaded his body. I guess I won't do that again!!
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Blog anytime soon?
You know you haven't blogged in awhile when google requires you to remember your password to log back in....I guess I have been too busy keeping my 8 month old occupied. Why can he not occupy himself these days??
Speaking of the eight month old, he is now crawling!
Not far, but he is finally figuring it out. His poor knees get so rough from the carpet and his face is a little bit redder too. I think we need to get the carpet cleaned and get all the allergens out. We will get to the bottom of his eczema some day! He also loves to walk when somebody helps him, so I bet he will be walking sometime soon too!
Because Micah is getting around now, I have a rule that no Legos are to be in the living room anymore. They have all been moved into the piano room for now, but once he gets super fast, they will have to be picked up too. When this happens, I think we have two options at that point. Our first option is to put up baby gates and gate off the piano room. Yes, put the big kids in the baby gates! Our second option is to move the Legos somewhere. This "somewhere" would probably be the basement, which is not finished yet.
Speaking of basement, I finally convinced Matt to finish it! I need some school space! My kids are going to be doing a lot more independently this year, and I really want them to have desks. Matt has not worked on the basement in over three years, even though everything we need is down there. All we have left is to put the woodwork up and get carpet. Matt started putting the woodwork up last weekend, so maybe this weekend, he can finish it. Then it is off to a store to purchase some good, cheap basement carpet and we can move our stuff down there! We have decided that he can still have his couch and big screen, but the kids get desks. It will work!
The kids are super anxious to get going on school. That is a post for another time. :)
Speaking of the eight month old, he is now crawling!
Because Micah is getting around now, I have a rule that no Legos are to be in the living room anymore. They have all been moved into the piano room for now, but once he gets super fast, they will have to be picked up too. When this happens, I think we have two options at that point. Our first option is to put up baby gates and gate off the piano room. Yes, put the big kids in the baby gates! Our second option is to move the Legos somewhere. This "somewhere" would probably be the basement, which is not finished yet.
Speaking of basement, I finally convinced Matt to finish it! I need some school space! My kids are going to be doing a lot more independently this year, and I really want them to have desks. Matt has not worked on the basement in over three years, even though everything we need is down there. All we have left is to put the woodwork up and get carpet. Matt started putting the woodwork up last weekend, so maybe this weekend, he can finish it. Then it is off to a store to purchase some good, cheap basement carpet and we can move our stuff down there! We have decided that he can still have his couch and big screen, but the kids get desks. It will work!
The kids are super anxious to get going on school. That is a post for another time. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)