MamaGrizzly

If it were possible to raise children to perfection, then God would have sent a parenting method, not Jesus. . . .
Our marching orders are to be Christians to and with our children.   –Kathy

Are you an organ donor? If not, you need to be! Please don’t take your organs with you - they won’t do you any good once you’ve left this earth. PLEASE check into organ donation.

Don’t think your organs make a difference? Well, they DO! And you don’t even have to die to make an organ donation - bone marrow is another very big need and you can do that now while you are alive!

Don’t believe me? Well, several months ago, I had a blog entry about young lady name Tricia who has cystic fibrosis. Just as she was preparing to begin her journey to prepare for a double lung transplant, she found out she was pregnant. I could tell you the whole story (I’ve been reading their blog and praying for them since early January), but it would be best if you started here. Long story short? Tricia was given a less then 50 percent chance that either she or the baby would survive. Guess what? Tricia is now out of the hospital after receiving her double lung transplant and her beautiful little girl - Gwyneth - born 15 weeks early will most likely go home this week. Don’t believe me? Read for yourself. But I warn you - it will change you! Happy Mothers Day Tricia!

Car seats for children are an absolutely awesome technology that can help you keep your child safe. The hardest part about the car seat, though, is knowing what kind of car seat and how to install it. I recently came across a video on Youtube that made me realize the importance of the 5 point harness system with car seats. I will caution you that this video WILL make you cry. But, for those of you who are parents of young kids, it’s an awesome opportunity for you to learn the importance of keeping your child in a 5 point harness system. The family of Kyle David Miller would like to make sure that you know the importance of this system so that his death was not in vain.

Thanks to CarolinaDreamz - I found this blog entry on her site and wanted to share it here.

It’s the Ten Commandment Boogie - this group is awesome! My children really love their music!

All of you Moms out there are going to like this.  It’s a catchy and fun tune and the words are great!  My children like to dance to the music!

Carol Armstrong was robbed of her purse and her car back in 2002. She suffered a stroke and required surgery that removed a portion of her brain. She will forever be bound to a wheelchair. Her current home is not wheelchair accessible and so it makes most tasks nearly impossible for Carol to accomplish by herself.

The Charleston Trident Home Builders Association is having a fund raiser this Friday April 25th . They are going to break ground on a brand new wheelchair accessible home for Carol Armstrong and her family! From an email I received last night:

The groundbreaking and a party to celebrate are being held on Friday night at the Knight’s family barn off Highway 17-A (across from Fisher Rd). The dinner will feature an all you can eat spaghetti buffet (donated by Mr. K’s Piggly Wiggly), open bar, a line dancing show and live music. If you have never been to Knight’s barn, that is reason enough to go. It’s a real site to see. A donation of $30/per person will be collected at the door. Free for kids! No need to RSVP, but I hope to see you there.

I also received two pdfs with the email. One about Carol and the home being built and the other about the fundraiser. I also found directions on Carol’s personal blog. What a wonderful way to have a great time with your family and do some good for another family! Hope to see you all there!

We bought 2 tickets to the “Walking with the Dinosaurs” show that is coming to the North Charleston Coliseum.  The tickets were expensive - even when you buy the cheapest seats.  We only bought 2 so one of us could take our 4 year old son.  It wasn’t worth spending the money for our soon to be 2 year old daughter.  Well, my husband wants ME to take our son and I am SO excited!  I’ll give a report after the show!

A little over year ago we made a major purchase that I just want to document and say was WELL worth it!  We purchased the swingset you see below made by “Gorilla” from Home Depot.  And, let me just say that it was a fantastic purchase.  The children are on that swingset EVERY day when the weather is nice - which, fortunately is often when you live in sunny South Carolina.

What do we like the MOST about it?  It’s sturdy - we can swing on it and it doesn’t move.  It is safe - everything is either hidden or covered so it’s hard for children to hit a nail or a screw (actually, nearly impossible).  I also like the fact that my children’s cousins who are 8 and 9 come over and love to play on it too.  So, I think for the money we spent, we will get MANY years of use and enjoyment out of it.

By the way, this is NOT a paid advertisement - just my personal opinion.

I was around someone the other day who told their child that they better “get happy” - ”GET” happy?  How do you do that?  Everything in life isn’t always “happy”.  Why does their child have to be HAPPY?  I’m not happy all the time - as humans, we have a range of emotions - happy, sad, mad, afraid, glad…..

Then, I had a great talk with my sister the other day about feelings and emotions and how critical it is to let children “have” and experience feelings.  We talked about our experiences as children and she remembered that none of the family pets when she was growing up ever “died” - because our parents didn’t want the kids to have to deal with that emotion.  Why not?  Grief is a part of life - it’s something both my sister are dealing with now with the recent death of our Father.

What is MOST important, with children and emotions, is that they learn exactly HOW to deal with those feelings and what is appropriate.  I can’t “command” that my children be happy - I think that is actually absurd.  But, I CAN help them learn how to handle their feelings.  I’ve been working with my son on how to express his frustration and I have no problems with him telling me that he doesn’t like something - as long as he is respectful in the way he presents his feelings.

You see, I’ve been around people who have no CLUE how to express that they are mad at you or upset with you - and it can be incredibly frustrating to be their friend because you never know what you’ve said that upset them.  And, it certainly doesn’t promote a very healthy relationship.

The other day, my son wanted a snack 5 minutes before dinner.  I told him that he could not that dinner was almost ready.  I was so proud of him because after his bath, he said, “Mommy - can we talk about it?”

“Talk about what, sweetheart?”  I said.

“Well, I wanted a snack and you wouldn’t let me have one.  That made me mad”  he said very politely.

“Sweetie” I said as I put him on my lap, “I knew you were hungry and I was working hard on preparing a really nice dinner for everyone in the family and so I was busy and you were about to eat in 5 minutes.  It would have hurt MY feelings if you hadn’t eaten any of the dinner I had fixed and Daddy and your sister would have had to wait longer for dinner.  We can’t ALWAYS have what we want WHEN we want it.”

We talked a little bit longer and at the end of the conversation, I got a big hug with an “I love you Mommy” that almost moved me to tears.  I was so proud of him - he didn’t like something but he had learned HOW to tell me that in a very respectful manner.  He’s learning to express his feelings and emotions - a big step for children.  I don’t want my children to think they always have to be “happy” - that’s not a realistic expectation  - I’m certainly not always happy.  I DO want them to know how to handle their different emotions and how to express and discuss those feelings those.  THAT is a very important lesson to me!

I get a LOT of hits on people doing google searches on Pulmicort and Xopenex - and the other day, someone was even searching Pulmicort with the words “infant hype”.  Pulmicort IS a steroid and it most DEFINITELY affected our daughter.  She’s always been a good sleeper but we definitely noticed that we couldn’t give her Pulmicort at night.  If we did, bless her heart, she was hyped up for half the night - it was pitiful.  When we DID give her Pulmicort (and we tried not to), we wound up giving it to her in the morning only - it definitely affected her during the day, though, and it was harder for her to fall asleep for her naps -  nothing a little extra snuggling and nursing couldn’t fix though!

My parents did a LOT of things right - those are the things I most definitely want to mimic.  One of those things was always making healthy snacks available.  I could eat at any time of the day if I was hungry.  My Mom always made sure that there were plenty of healthy snacks available around the house for those times.  We had fruits, nuts, crackers - oh yes - and peanut butter!  We never had sodas around and cookies and cake were special treats but ALWAYS home made.

I learned a lot from that growing up and it’s taught me some very healthy eating habits.  And although my Mother always prepared healthy dinners, I’ve been able to learn even more about health and nutrition.  It’s interesting that my children, 4 and almost 2, are naturally hungry and want something to eat about 6 times a day.  Why do I find that interesting?  Because every diet out there known to man preaches that you should be eating 6 small meals a day - and my children are just acting on their natural hunger.   I won’t bother naming any of them because EVERY diet and diet book I’ve read makes that recommendation.

And I think that is critical to the success of our children - to teach them that food is simply energy - it’s not to be a controlled substance.  But, I’m also considered “odd” by many of my friends because, you see, we don’t bring sugared foods into the house.  Children don’t NEED sugar.  What they need is a steady stream of healthy carbohydrates, protein, and the right fats to maintain their energy.   When my children are older and able to fix their own snacks, I intend to give them free access to the kitchen pantries and refridgerator.

I get a lot of hits on this blog for people doing google searches on “Xopenex and Pulmicort“.  When my daughter was diagnosed with RSV in November 2006 (at 7 months), we had to give her breathing treatments of Xopenex and Pulmicort off and on throughout that Winter.  I was told to be prepared that we would probably be on both drugs throughout the second Winter of her life as well.

I fully expected, after talking to the pediatrician, as well as, friends and family members who have children who have had RSV that this Winter (2007) was going to be rough but I am happy to report ( and a little nervous since it’s not QUITE over) that we’ve only had to do breathing treatments for about 3 days since October 2007.    We’re very relieved that she has stayed as healthy as she has and I hope that next year we won’t even need the prescriptions for Xopenex and Pulmicort.  Anyway, since I get so many hits on those 2 drugs, I just thought I would post an update.

Our church has Baptism as a part of the church service. I love that it’s a part of our service because it means I regularly get to witness a Baptism - and every time I do, I cry. In our church, for an infant Baptism, the parents make a commitment to raise this child to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. As a congregation, we take part in the Baptism as well and make the commitment that we too will help this child to grow up to know Jesus. We are specifically asked to respond to questions, the same way the parents are asked to respond. But, the part that I love the best is that just before the Baptism occurs, our Pastor invites all of the children to go up and sit down at the alter for the Baptism. He wants the children to have the opportunity to witness and be a part of the Baptism. After the Baptism, he talks to the children about what Baptism means and as our Pastor, he has Baptised almost every child that is sitting with him. He has Baptised both of mine. He tells the children how they too can be a very important part of this child’s life and how they too can help this child grow to learn Jesus. He then asks them if they will promise to help this child learn about Jesus and they all say, “yes”.

My son always comes back to sit with me after a Baptism and wants to talk about his Baptism and I tell him all about it. We talk about how important Baptism is and then he asks about his sisters Baptism. I do so love that it’s a part of our church service - it’s always a reminder that we too are making a commitment to help others with their faith and their journey towards a life with Christ.

OK - I’m going to be a little bit cynical in this post.  But, I just had to laugh.  A very young soon to be new Mom friend of mine asked me a few weeks ago about a regular “date night” and what my husband and I do for a date night now that we have children.  I asked her what she meant and she said that some friends of hers from her church have been telling her that she and her husband really need to have once a week date nights after they have the baby.  I was sipping on a glass of tea at the moment and almost spit out my drink in laughter.  She asked me why I was laughing?

Well, I was laughing for a lot of reasons.  First of all, I don’t think people that make these kinds of statements live in the same world that I do.  First off - it’s EXPENSIVE to find a babysitter - especially when your children are younger.  And as for a newborn?  Well, there just aren’t that many people qualified to take care of a newborn.  And let’s not even discuss what a breastfeeding Mom is supposed to do.

Secondly, let’s suppose that I COULD afford the babysitter.  Now I have to find someone that I trust - and when you don’t have any family in town, that gets even more difficult.

Third, OK - let’s suppose that I DID have someone I could trust and afford - NOW I have to be able to afford going OUT!  UGH!  Do you see where I’m going with this?

Fourth - you know, children get up EARLY at our house.  So, now that I’ve got someone I can trust and afford taking care of my child AND I can afford to go somewhere, I better not stay out LATE because those children are going to wake up BRIGHT EYED and BUSHY TAILED (as my Dad used to say) and RARING to go.  Now, my children are awesome sleepers and they’ve been known to sleep in until 7:30 sometimes - but, I still better not stay out very late.   I really like my sleep!    :wink:

So, I asked my friend why the emphasis on actually going OUT and she said that it was important that they focus on their marriage as a couple even when the children arrive.   OK - Well, this I can agree on.  But, my question back to her was, “Why do you have to go OUT on a date every week?”    I guess my point back to her was that through the ages, families haven’t been able to “afford” this type of a luxury and they were able to stay married for a lifetime.   I know for a fact that my Grandparents didn’t go out on a “date night” - heck, they lived on a farm and had 4 boys and many sharecroppers.  They didn’t even have a car to drive until the youngest child was 13 years old.  But, somehow, my grandparents stayed married their entire lives without going every week.

I’m not trying to trivialize the time spent with your spouse - it’s important.  But you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have quality time with your spouse.  My husband and I spend time together talking every night when the children are in bed - we don’t have to spend a lot of money to have that quality time together.  I think the “once a week date night” was actually invented by the restaurant industry just like I think the greeting card company’s keep inventing new “holidays” so that they can sell more greeting cards.  Spend quality time together with your spouse - but just know that you don’t have to leave home and spend a lot of money to do that!

These young ladies are magnificent! Turn up the volume and enjoy!

There are no words to describe the preciousness of this little miracle:

This picture was take from the blog Confessions of a CF Husband. Nate says that the CF stands for Cystic Fibrosis (his wife was born with Cystic Fibrosis and just gave birth to this precious little miracle baby). But, if you read this blog entry first, and then this blog entry, you might have to conclude that CF stands for Christ follower. They have completely and unconditionally trusted God throughout this whole ordeal and continue to place their trust in Him knowing that whatever the outcome, they will accept it. I am inspired, encouraged, and more than anything, sent to my knees in prayer that I might have the kind of faith that this family obviously has displayed. Please visit this site, pray for them and marvel at the wonder of God’s miracles.

My blogging friend, TulipGirl, recently wrote a post about the books she Hopes to Read in 2008.  Someone posed the question to me - what books do I plan to read this year?  Well, with 2 small children, my list is a little different.  But, one of my resolutions this year was to get back to reading to the kids EVERY night before bed and so far, it’s working.  The problem is that my children are 4 (boy) and ALMOST 2 (girl) and so their reading interests are VASTLY different.  So, the dilemma is what books do you read to them that BOTH will enjoy and BOTH will be challenged?  You know what I’ve found to be some of the BEST that fit that category?  DR. SEUSS!

I’ve always loved Dr. Seuss books and I’ve found that my son loves to hear the stories and study the pictures and my daughter loves the “sing song” of the words.  I didn’t want to read to them separately which is what we had been doing.  It’s hard to get her to sit still but we’re getting there and I LOVE reading to them every night.  My son is really into finishing off the last couple of words in “Green Eggs and Ham”.  The rhyming of Dr. Seuss is great for him too because he loves trying to make things rhyme. 

So, for now, here is my top 10 list of books to read this year (OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER):

1.  “OH the Places You’ll Go” - by Dr. Seuss

2.  “Green Eggs and Ham” - by Dr. Seuss

3.  “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket” - by Dr. Seuss

4.  “Guess How much I love you” - by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram

5.  “Time to PEEEEEEEE”  (that’s for my daughter) - by Mo Willems

6.  “Sleep Book”  - by Dr. Seuss

7.  “Mr. Brown Can MOO!  Can YOU?” - by Dr. Seuss

8. “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” - by Dr. Seuss

9.  “Horton Hears a Who” - by Dr. Seuss

10.  “The Sneetches” - by Dr. Seuss

I know - kind of a boring list but I know that some day I’ll be able to get back to pleasure reading for ME.  But, in the meantime, we plan to start with the list above and expand. 

My husband went to a local credit union the other day to close out his account.  He was tired of the poor service he felt he was receiving and tired of paying to bank with them.  He had a savings account that had $30 in it.  When he explained to the teller what he wanted to do, she said he couldn’t close the account because he owed $157 on the credit card that he had with them.  (What were they going to do?  Hold the $30 hostage?)  He said, “Fine.  I’ll write you a check now and pay off the credit card”.  They said, “Sorry!  We don’t process credit card payments - you’ll have to call this number.” 

VERY annoyed, my darling husband left.  He paid off the credit card and went back the next day or a few days later.  The same teller was there and she remembered my husband.  Then he told the teller he was ready to close out his account.  She said, “Can I ask why you want to close the account sir?”  

It’s been an awesome and relaxing family day.  The sermon today was given by one of the church members and she told the story of “The Rag Coat”.  Turns out, it’s actually a children’s story (and if you haven’t read it, I HIGHLY encourage you to seek it out).  But, the story was a reminder that about what is important in life.

May the blessings of Christmas, and the birth of the Savior bring joy and peace to you and your family.

I simply can’t delete his phone number.  It’s been just over 2 months since my Father died and his home phone number (the one that the family has been dialing for over 37 years) is still programmed into my cell phone.  It says “Dad Home” followed by his number.  *sigh*  I don’t know when I’ll be ready to delete it.  It just makes it so, well, permanent and real that he is gone.  I might add that the actual number has been disconnected - my sister had to do that and I know it was incredibly difficult for her to do.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about dialing his number either.  I’ve called it a couple of times *knowing* that it has been disconnected.  My Mom has been gone now for 3.5 years and I STILL think about calling her.  I’ll be doing something and I’ll think, “I should call Mom”…. but I can’t reach either one of them with modern technology. 

It’s been difficult losing my Dad.  He was my last surviving parent and losing him has made me feel, at times, like an orphan.  He was the last person on this earth who had been there for me from the beginning.  He was the last person on earth who loved me unconditionally.  Losing him and dealing with that grief has made me realize how incredibly hard it was on him when my sister died in 2001.  I realize now that his reactions after she died, while they seemed strange, were his way of coping with the impossible.  It’s been hard enough to lose both parents but burying our parents is a natural part of life - it’s something we know we will probably all face someday.  Burying a child is a whole different story and I now know, more than ever, how incredibly difficult that must have been for my Father.

But the blessing is that life goes on and death has the incredible ability of bringing families closer together - of making us realize exactly what is important in life - it’s not a new car, or new clothes or money in the bank.  The value in this life is our family, our friends, our relationships and the chance to have a positive influence on someone else’s life.  ….. that is what matters most of all.  And God truly has blessed me with a wonderful family, husband, and the 2 cutest children in the whole world (sorry to break it to y’all but mine ARE the cutest and sweetest in the world).  And, while this Christmas will probably be one of the hardest, I have fond and fun memories of my own childhood and my parents.  I’m surrounded by family and friends who love me and care about me and I also have God there to hold me in the palm of His hand.  Merry Christmas!   

Christmas time is my favorite time of the year - I’m sure that I share that in common with a lot of people.  But I love the traditions in families and with our young family, my husband and I have enjoyed coming up with our own traditions.  We’ve started some already and have thoughts for many more but right now I have 2 children that are under the age of 4 so some of my current traditions are limited by age.  Nonetheless, they are fun and we are enjoying them.  Of course, we put up a Christmas tree and stockings, our nativity scene.  But, I have a special box that I keep for each child that holds only ornaments for that child.  Whenever we travel somewhere, I try to find a unique ornament that is a reminder of where they have been and I place it with a note (from Mom) in their box.  You see, I want them to have their own large assortment of meaningful ornaments from their childhoods when they leave home.  I have no intention of telling them about their boxes until they are ready to leave home (for those of you who know me IRL - please don’t let out my secret).  It’s kind of a special collection that I will give to them much later.  I don’t limit myself to just 1 ornament - I just find very special and unique ornaments.

We’ve started our own tradition of having Texas BBQ Brisket on Christmas Eve just before our Children’s Church Service at 5:00PM.  Following Church, our neighborhood has a tradition of lining all of the streets in the neighborhood with luminaries at dusk - it’s absolutely beautiful and last year was the first change we had to enjoy it and it was beautiful.  I think this year we will get some hot chocolate and walk around (or drive depending on how cold it is).  I plan to read the children the story of the birth of Jesus just before bedtime and then Santa and Mrs. Claus will enjoy putting out a few items for each child and then retire to a nice warm fire.   

One thing we will definitely do when the children get older is to adopt a family at Christmas time - we haven’t completely formulated our ideas of how it will work but essentially we want our children to learn true giving of themselves.  We may even take a year where we don’t spend any money on each other and only provide for a family - I’m not sure what age the children will need to be to understand all of that but we are definitely a few years off. 

We really like traditions at our house - we revel in them and we know that it’s these types of traditions that will make lasting memories for our whole family.   What traditions do you have in your home? 

So, if I look back over the last couple of months, it appears that I have only posted YouTube videos and Wordless Wednesday entries.  Part of that has been a blogging break due to some very personal things that have happened in the last few months.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share everything here but I’ve come to the conclusion that I will because I think it will help me and it will also most certainly help others going through the same things in their lives. 

I’ve written so many blog entries in the last couple of months in my head on my way to work but most especially in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep - or when I’ve been up rocking a sick little baby girl.  I’ve invented (in my mind) a device I can connect to my brain that can take all my writing “thoughts” and transposed them into blog entries.  I wish it was a true possibility. 

I’m making a huge assumption here that there are 1 or 2 people out there who actually read my blog - that may be a bad assumption on my part but JUST IN CASE you are out there, I wanted to let you know that I’m still here - just thinking, processing, wondering, and mourning.  I’m hoping to have more time to process thoughts and put them on paper computer over the coming months. 

In the meantime, may you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and have a chance to reflect on the real reason we come together this time of year - to celebrate the birth of Christ. 

This is hilarious!!!

This guy is too hilarious! Thought I’d share another video of his. Enjoy!

OK - this is HYSTERICAL!!!!   I’ve never heard words before sung to Cannon in D (and I LOVE to play that song on the piano).  But, this was toooo hilarious not to share!

This is our song - Happy 5th Anniversary sweetie!!!  I look forward to growing old with you!  I couldn’t ask for more….

Lying here with you
Listening to the rain
Smiling just to see the smile upon your face
These are the moments I thank God that I’m alive
These are the moments I’ll remember all my life
I found all I’ve waited for
And I could not ask for more
Looking in your eyes
Seeing all I need
Everything you are is everything to me
These are the moments
I know heaven must exist
These are the moments I know all I need is this
I have all I’ve waited for
And I could not ask for more
Chorus
I could not ask for more than this time together
I could not ask for more than this time with you
Every prayer has been answered
Every dream I have’s come true
And right here in this moment is right where I’m meant to be
Here with you here with me

These are the moments I thank God that I’m alive
These are the moments I’ll remember all my life
I’ve got all I’ve waited for
And I could not ask for more

Chorus

I could not ask for more than the love you give me ‘Coz it’s all I’ve waited for
And I could not ask for more
I could not ask for more

My darling little soon to be 4 year old son decided today that picking a very small red berry and sticking it UP his nose would be a LOT of fun!  Only to find out that gravity doesn’t work QUITE as well in a nostril as it does on the playground.  So, we tried tweezers and a flashlight and started getting frustrated.  Then one of the ladies at the church said, “I think if you blow in their mouth as if you were going to do mouth to mouth resuscitation that it will come out.”  You know what?  It worked!!!!  Moms - tuck this in your brains - you too may need to know this very critical skill one day!

May we never forget…..

I hear people saying we don’t need this war
But, I say there’s some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground
We didn’t get to keep ‘em by backing down
They say we don’t realize the mess we’re getting in
Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn’t worry ’bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it’s too disturbing for you and me
It’ll just breed anger that’s what the experts say
If it was up to me I’d show it everyday
Some say this country’s just out looking for a fight
Well, after 9/11 man I’d have to say that’s right

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And we vowed to get the one’s behind bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

I’ve been there with the soldiers
Who’ve gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they’re fighting for

Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Yeah, some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on
Don’t you tell me not to worry about bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?
v

For you Daddy’s out there with little girls, you’ll cry all the way through this song - so, consider yourself forewarned. 

I just have to add that watching my husband with my daughter sometimes brings tears to my eyes.  I know how very special that Daddy/daughter dynamic can be and I hope that she’ll continue to have a very special relationship with her Daddy for her entire life.  This song so beautifully tells the story of a father’s love for his daughter.  Get out your hankies. 

Look at the two of you dancing that way
Lost in the moment and each others face
So much in love your alone in this place
Like there’s nobody else in the world
I was enough for her not long ago
I was her number one
She told me so
And she still means the world to me
Just so you know
So be careful when you hold my girl
Time changes everything
Life must go on
And I’m not gonna stand in your way

But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she’d find you someday
But it still hard to give her away
I loved her first

How could that beautiful women with you
Be the same freckle face kid that I knew
The one that I read all those fairy tales to
And tucked into bed all those nights
And I knew the first time I saw you with her
It was only a matter of time

But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she’d find you someday
But its still hard to give her away
I loved her first

From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
Someday you might know what I’m going through
When a miracle smiles up at you
I loved her first

I have an RSV baby….  But let me preface that by saying I am blessed that she was born ON her due date at a whopping 8 pounds 5 ounces and VERY healthy.  She was also 100% breastfed until she was 9 months and then I started with food but continued breastfeeding for another 6 months.  So, all that to say it helped my daughter IMMENSELY with this dreaded virus.  It can be a deadly virus for parents of premies or children born with underdeveloped lungs or other problems.

When she was 7 months old (and it’s been almost a year to the date), she came down with what we thought was a nasty cold.  But, we were up with her for an entire Friday night - and I mean we paced the floor with her for 6 hours and she whimpered in our arms almost the entire time.  We KNEW something was wrong.  Fortunately, our pediatrician was open that Saturday for illnesses like this.  We took her in and the second the doctor listened to her lungs she said, “I think she may have RSV - let’s test her.”  Fifteen minutes later, we had the positive diagnosis.  We quickly became the proud owners of a nebulizer  and one treatment of Xopenex and Pulmicort in the doctors office and my daughter was no longer wheezing and had fallen asleep in my arms - FINALLY she could get oxygen to her lungs.

We continued with breathing treatments pretty steadily through January but we QUICKLY discovered that when she got the Pulmicort (which is a steroid) in the evenings, it woke her up at night.  So, we just continued with the Xopenex through January and then after that watched her carefully and with every cold, she started back on the Xopenex treatments.

Fast forward to this year - she’s now 19 months and the RSV is still affecting her.  We had to start back with the breathing treatments this year for all colds and continue them for a couple of days after the cold symptoms are gone.   The doctor highly encouraged us to do Pulmicort twice a day and Xopenex three times a day.  Well,  we gave her Pulmicort at night for 2 nights straight and guess what?  Our little “like a rock” sleeper was up each night - WIRED TO THE MAX wanting to PLAY!  What???  This is the SAME little girl that will go to bed at 8:00PM and sleep in and cuddle with her Daddy on Saturdays until 9:30AM!   So, we decided to NOT give her Pulmicort last night - guess what?  Our little sleeper was back!  She didn’t want to have a party at 3:00 in the morning!  Anyway, just wanted to post our experiences with that in case other parents are out there searching for answers!

Thank you for all that you do!!!

I’m just trying to be a father,
Raise a daughter and a son,
Be a lover to their mother,
Everything to everyone.
Up and at ‘em bright and early,
I’m all business in my suit,
Yeah, I’m dressed for success from my head down to my boots,
I don’t do it for money, there’s still bills that I can’t pay,
I don’t do it for the glory, I just do it anyway,
Providing for our future’s my responsibility,
Yeah I’m real good under pressure, being all that I can be,
And I can’t call in sick on Mondays when the weekends been to strong,
I just work straight through the holidays,
And sometimes all night long.
You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door,
Hey, I’m solid, hey I’m steady, hey I’m true down to the core,
And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price,
I’ve counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice,
Oh, and I don’t want to die for you,
But if dying’s asked of me,
I’ll bear that cross with an honor,
‘Cause freedom don’t come free.
I’m an American soldier, an American,
Beside my brothers and my sisters I will proudly take a stand,
When liberty’s in jeopardy I will always do what’s right,
I’m out here on the front lines, so sleep in peace tonight.
American soldier, I’m an American,
An American,
An American Soldier

This is a MUST see!!! 

I forgot about the Halloween toy/costume recalls.  There is an article on FoxNews about the recalls.  Below are some important highlights from the article.  The really scarey part is the number of parts listed in the article.  How many of you parents knew about these?  I read the news regularly and found many of these a surprise. 

 The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued warnings on items such as witch and skull pails, cape costumes and pumpkin Mr. Potato Heads, saying they are unsafe for kids.

“We’ve tested 22 Halloween products, and three were found to have contained high levels of lead,”

About 142,000 purple witch buckets, manufactured by Family Dollar Stores in Charlotte, N.C., were recalled because of toxic lead levels found in the paint coating them. Also pulled were 55,000 candy-filled skull pails, made by R.L. Albert & Son of Greenwich, Conn.

Fake choppers called “Ugly Teeth” tested positive for lead too, with conflicting reports about whether the levels surpassed the limits set by the Food and Drug Administration.

How safe are you feeling about buying toys made in China?

FoxNews has another article dated October 31, 2007 - Lead-Tainted Toys Recalled.  Are you surprised?  Below is an excerpt from that article:

WASHINGTON —  Toys “R” Us recalled about 16,000 Chinese-made Elite Operations toys because of lead contamination, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Wednesday.

The military-style toys are recalled because their surface paints contain excessive levels of lead, which is toxic if ingested by young children. Under current regulations, children’s products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

This is the second recall of lead-tainted children’s products for Toys “R” Us this month. On Oct. 4, the company recalled about 15,000 Totally Me! Funky Room Decor Sets because surface paints on the back of the decorating kits’ mirrors contained high levels of lead.

But, this is just one of many  articles I found when I did a search on FoxNews of “Chinese toy recall”. 

If you’re not rethinking what you are buying for your children, you need to be!

Matthew 6:25-34

25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28″And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

My husband always says, “Every moment of pleasure is paid for by a moment of pain.”

He is so right.

In continuation of discussing my parenting journey, it’s my belief now that when parenting “musts” are directed at me, that the “must” or the advice must transcend culture and time. For example, when people say that formula is better than breastmilk, there’s no way that can be true. If it WAS true, then God would not have given women breasts, water would be pure wherever we could find it, formula would be available on trees and baby bottles with nipples would be easy to find and make. And please, I’m not getting into the formula versus breastmilk debate here - I have a child that DID get formula. I’m just arguing the directive that “formula is better than breastmilk”. It can’t be - that doesn’t transcend culture and time. It certainly is not a part of God’s plan.

Let’s take another one. Some parents today choose to sleep with their children (commonly called co-sleeping), some parents choose to place their children in a crib in another room. But to say that you MUST place your children in another room by themselves is just simply ridiculous advice. Again - it doesn’t transcend culture and time. For thousands of years, people have slept with their children. Even in Biblical times, families slept together. My 80+ year old Father grew up very poor on a farm with 3 brothers and he remembers everyone sleeping together. In primitive areas of the world, they STILL sleep with their children in order to keep them warm and safe. And, in many cultures (take the Japanese for example), even though they are an industrialized nation, they still sleep with their children as well.

I actually had a friend tell me that if our children slept with us, it would ruin our marriage. I find it ironic in a nat