Insomnia

Ever wonder what causes insomnia?  What do you do when you have insomnia? How long does it typically last for you?

Some nights I just lie in bed and will myself to go back to sleep. Some nights I lie in bed and read whatever book I am currently on. And on those nights when none of the above will work...  I head downstairs and try to occupy myself until I get tired.

And let me tell you, some of those nights I don't get tired and wind up staying awake all night and all day. I remember having those nights when I was a teenager. I never imagined that I would be an adult, a mom, a wife and still have those nights. I thought that was something only teenagers experienced. I had many of those nights as a teenager.

There would be mornings when my mother would come in my room to wake me up for school and she would stub her toe on my furniture because I rearranged my whole room while they were sleeping. I would organize my closet and my drawers. Or I would just write in my journal and listen to music quietly in my room when I was in middle school. In high school, I would call my friends. Well, the ones that I knew had a phone in their rooms. I didn't want to wake up their parents!

What to do as an adult... some things haven't changed. I still write, read, do something crafty, rearrange, organize... whatever my mind seems to be going non-stop about.

*the above picture is taken at Sea World of San Diego. The penguins is one of our favorite visits.

This little man is stretching my mommy abilities. I thank God for him daily. But I also lean on God daily. His intolerances are hard to figure out. I am almost certain that this last test we did for eliminating gluten has a positive affect. However, now he is reacting to something else and sadly the only thing that we've given him is his standby... rice milk. The ONLY milk he can drink. (So far.) And he is COVERED. (sighs)

I wish there was someone that I could talk to that has the answers and has a ton of advice on how to do this. How do I still give him the nutrients, vitamins, minerals that he needs to function and grow? He is, once again, not growing. He's a smart fellow, but he has problems growing. God gave him to us and entrusted us to be his parents for a reason. I am learning and stretching daily.

As I sit here this morning, Little Man has fallen back asleep after a fitful sleep last night and an early morning. So now is the time to be researching what to do now.

Spend time with God this morning and He will direct your day.

Time Off

What is that? Well as nature would have it, we all got sick. All at once. We already took the week or two off before we got physically sick because I was just mentally sick. Then once I got physically sick, I had a full on panic attack that turned into asthma attach or a mock asthma attack. I do not have asthma. And it lasted for 4 hours. I thought I was going to slip away and not wake up. For real. I actually went to our ER. I was scared. So I took another couple of weeks off. Now I feel great! 

There are some aspects of our curriculum that I am not loving. Some I threw out of our lesson plans. Some we will finish the year up with and try something new next year. Oh the joys of homeschooling. I'm a planner. I like to make plans and write it all out. What looks great on paper and in theory sometimes does not manifest as well in reality. Bummer. But back to the lesson plans and the internet once again. 

After the holiday I need to add my soon-to-be-4-year-old to our lessons too. She can already count and knows her colors and shapes and can even recognize some of the alphabet and knows the sounds. Hmmm. Maybe I should have included her in the beginning like I thought. Lesson learned to listen to your intuition. Mine has never failed me yet. Only I have failed it. 

I will find what works and I know it will change. Homeschooling is a living breathing entity. It changes and evolves just as my kids do. My kids are the ones changing and succeeding. I love what I do. 

Managers of Their Homes, a photo by Southernmommie on Flickr.

I just received these books in the mail this past week. I have been devouring the first one. I can't wait to get started on our family schedule.

I have heard many wonderful things about this ministry from the christian blog and websites I frequent. I've been waiting for the moment I would be able to get them. (Thank you Jesus!)

I have read and tried different scheduling books, but I have felt God leading me to this set. I bought them from Titus2 ministry.

A Diagnosis

I believe that we finally have an answer and a solution to our lack of weight gain for the baby. Hallelujah! We are starting a trial of medicine to help with the acid reflux. The doctors missed it beforehand because he didn't have the tell-tale sign of spitting up or vomiting. But this specialty pediatric doctor caught it. Hopefully caught it. We are hoping that it clears up in a couple of weeks. However, if by 4 weeks it hasn't, then a camera tube will be inserted down his throat. (I cringe when I think about my poor little 13 pound 7 month old having to endure that!)

We also are advised to change his diet. No more dairy, eggs, fish, or citrus foods. Also, no more jar baby foods that you buy. The water content is high and I need to start making our own foods. Another addition is to add the baby cereal back into his diet. He needs the iron.

He had a tongue tie clipped when he was 5 days old. It is also needing to be clipped again. And come to find out, he also has an upper lip tie, which I knew nothing about! I didn't know that was possible. I guess anything can be possible with the human body.

My poor baby has been hurting for over 4 months now and we didn't catch it! I feel so rotten. Like I have failed him. I am so thankful that this is such an easy fix and can be done without being invasive. I really pray that this is the answer. It is so hard to see your baby and know that he's in pain and have the doctors brush your concerns aside. I am so frustrated with our previous doctors!

I celebrate a little each day knowing that this is the longest I have ever breastfed any of my children. Woohoo! Do you know what a feat that is? Especially with this baby. As I look in the past with the other children I wonder if that is why we always weaned so early with them. Were they also hurting and this was the answer for them? They each had their own symptoms that point to it in hindsight. But you know what? Everything happens for a reason. God has a plan and this is how it played out. I trust in Him.

We have a few events going on here. I am still reading through our book with the book club. Ministry of Motherhood is a really good read. Being a mom is my ministry. Raising the children that God has blessed my husband and I with are my priorities. My husband is my priority. There is no higher calling than them. My home is where I dwell and work. And I love it. The devil has tried to pull me away. Tried to seduce me with being a worldly woman instead of a Godly woman. He has tried to tempt me and to neglect my family and my calling. But I now know what my calling is.

Life has taken us on a new path. A vegan path. Now I have to admit, I am not entirely sure I know the definition or what the distinction is for vegetarians. That is something I need to look up. Our darling little boy, who is now 7 months old, is not gaining weight or pooping. He weighs as much as he did at 3 1/2 months old. He is also very irritable during and after feeding if he doesn't fall asleep while nursing.

Yes, we are still breastfeeding. I refuse to switch to formula for a couple of reasons. One, because formula is not as beneficial health wise for him. Two, because he gags on any type of artificial nipple be it from bottles or pacifiers.

He did have a tongue tie that we had clipped when he was 5 days old. A friend of mine familiar with tongue ties explained that a second clipping might be needed. We have already seen the ENT specialists but the specialist that is a pediatric ENT wasn't there that day and only works one day a week. I couldn't be "squeezed" in for 2 weeks. His appointment is next week.

I've had his blood glucose levels checked and they are fine. I've had the first round of allergy testing done, the blood RAST test. He also checked out in normal ranges there too. I will be asking for a skin test and the ALCAT test next for delayed reactions. If everything still turns up in the normal range, I don't know what else to look for. I suppose xrays and ultrasounds to make sure his digestion tract is formed normal. There is a whole host of possibilities if he isn't having allergic reactions or a tongue tie issue.

Hence why we started the vegan path. It started with the possibility of cutting out dairy out of our diets. The more I started reading, the more I learned the myths that the cattle farmers don't want you to know. It would kill their business. But I won't explain any of that here. You wouldn't believe me anyway unless you were ready to hear it. So when you are ready to hear it, do your own research. You have to be responsible for your own health and well being. You just cannot take someone else's word for it. It might be wrong. Intentional or unintentional.

I feel that this is the most natural next step for us. I won't lie. Making out the menu and the grocery list was hard. What was harder was finding all the ingredients. I shopped 3 stores. Thank you to our local military Commissary, Whole Foods, and Amazon.com!

So far I've made 2 dinners. Last night was Teriyaki Rice Bowl from the book above. Tonight was Loaded Baked Potato. Which for me, needed some tweaking but was good. I borrowed this book from a friend of mine and thought the recipes sounded good. I then ordered the book from Amazon. It arrived today!!

If you are a vegan, lend your thoughts. What was easy for you, what was hard, what is your advice for beginners?

Thanks for stopping by.

Blogging

What is it about sitting down to blog that is so hard for me?

Okay, okay, okay. You can all stop laughing at me now. With 4 kids and a baby it can be a little difficult to sit down with a laptop and blog. There are some life changes that are going on.

We have decided to homeschool our kids starting this fall. I will be leading our 4th grader and 1st grader in their education. I could start with Kindergarten also, but I don't want to rush her. I am happy just letting her listen in with the older 2 and pick up what she may. I am gathering information on the things that I will need both curriculum wise and furniture and supplies wise. I am almost there completing my list of what all I need.

Baby boy is also completely "failure to thrive" only in height and weight. Developmentally he is exactly where he needs to be if not doing more. He is crawling and trying to stand up on his own. He babbles and tries to sit up on his own. But he only weighs about 13 pounds and is 7 months old. He started out in the 80 percentile range and since about 3 months his gains slowed and at 4 months just stopped completely. So we're working on that.

The summer season is here (not officially), and we aren't ready. The weather is cool and rainy (still) and the kids are still in school. But in their defense, their school is on the year-round schedule and they don't even get out till late July! Talk about hard! You try having a bedtime when the sun is still up an hour after going to bed. The sun sets late here at that time of year.

In addition to all this, the hubbs and I have agreed on moving into a 5 bedroom house. He has some paperwork to attend to and then we will do what we can. So hopefully by the fall we will be in a 5 bedroom house! I'm actually looking forward to it. We will have a bigger kitchen and dining room area which is sorely needed here.

I'll let you know how my garden has done so far. It's quite the riot! Stay tuned...

It is that time of year again. Spring cleaning. I don't normally do a once a year top to bottom cleaning. I do little by little throughout the year. However, I do go through twice a year and do a little more of the big tasks. One of my biggies is shampooing our carpets. Moving furniture to vacuum behind them and shampoo or sweep and mop.


What are some of your favorite homemaking or cleaning books? Here are 2 of mine. I have many more that I love. I refer to them time and time again.



I am planning a trip next month. I've made out my packing list. However, there are so many things that need to be done here around the house before I go. Including the spring cleaning. I have a garden to get ready and planted. All this in addition to the every day goings on here. We are already behind on laundry from everyone getting sick and passing it back and forth.


I have started my list of what needs to be done before I go on my trip.. I'm not sure if I can get everything on it done. But I'm gonna give it a go. All this with my precious 4 month old that does not do well on his own.

Now what I mean by "on his own" isn't by any means cruelty. I'm talking like a few minutes of sitting in the bouncy seat. Or falling asleep in my arms nursing and then gently lying him down in the bassinet. Or even a few minutes of precious tummy time does not seem to be comfy for our little man. He seems to feel the happiest and most secure in mommy's loving arms. That just means I'm doing something right, right?

I will be taking another blogging break. This time due to illnesses running rampant in our home. Thank you for sticking with me. This time I have it. A different illness for the second time this year when we normally do not get anything. I look forward to posting soon. For the time being I only have the energy and consciousness to just read all of y'alls blogs.

Following...

"Not following any blogs." Really? I have a l-o-n-g list of blogs that I do follow that I just checked on yesterday from my dashboard. Where did they go and what happened? Has this happened to any of you?