Big Brother Present

As I've been getting ready for our baby girl I've been preparing the house and the boys for being taken care of by church family while Colin and I are at the hospital.

One of the ideas I had was to wrap a present for the boys and put it out ahead of time and tell them they can open it when Mommy and Daddy go to the hospital.

I didn't want to spend a ton of money, but I wanted it to be a cool enough present that they would be distracted by it while we were away from them for a very short while.

As you know from my previous post, my boys love GeoTrax. I was able to to find THREE tunnels/bridges for the price of one on ebay the other day. I plan on giving one of them as a future present to their cousin in Iowa who shares the same passion for trains, but these two are wrapped and waiting for the day I go to the hospital to give birth to our little girl.




I really want to celebrate the life of our new little girl, but I also want to celebrate this new phase in the boys' life. Micah becoming a big brother for the very first time and Jackson taking another sibling under his wing.





Colin and I have been stressing the importance of their roles as big brothers to take care of their little sister. They are the princes and she is the princess. I believe they are up for the challenge and I can't wait to see what that looks like in reality.

Lifeguarding Skills Applied to Parenting

No we did not have an incident at the pool that needed lifeguarding skills.

When I was in high school I worked as a lifeguard at the YMCA. One of their policies was to enforce rules with positive redirection. Instead of saying, "No running!" they encourage you to say, "Walk please!" Instead of "No diving!" say, "Feet first only!"

It took a little bit of getting used to, but it made complete sense, after all, "No running!" left open a variety of other options (skipping, sliding, dancing, jumping) and "Walk please!" was clear and to the point.

Positive redirection stayed with me and frankly kept me quite sane when I worked 40+ hours at my daycare job and now as a parent. I think it may have saved me from having 15 2 -3 year olds screaming "NO!" at me all day long because they were mimicking me. Here are a few phrases I've learned to switch in my daily interaction with my kids:

"No whining!" - "Happy heart please!"
"No hitting!" - "Be loving please!"
"No yelling!" - "Inside voice please!"

Even saying "No thank you" instead of "No!" I think has helped my kids minimize their "NO!" stage in life (notice I said "minimize").

I've been surprised by this lifeguarding skill's most recent application. As my boys get to the age where they are playing together instead of just next to each other I often hear:

"STOP! STOP! STOP!"
"NO!"
(SCREAM)
"DON'T, DON'T, DON'T"
"I HAD THAT FIRST!"



There have been many opportunities to teach both my four year old and two year old the old lesson "you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar." They're still learning, but everyday it seems to get better as they realize that yelling at each other is extremely unproductive.

Jackson is learning to tell Micah what he wants instead of yelling about what he doesn't want him to do. Instead of, "Micah, don't do that!" I'm hearing "Micah how about you play with this toy instead of taking mine away?"

My Love/Hate Relationship With Travel: Part 2

Day 12 - Sunday

Micah has a great night sleep with only one suppository before bed. Colin and I take turns at church with Jackson, but leave Micah at home. He's more himself eating a really good breakfast, but still just snacking throughout the day. He's also much more lethargic as the day progresses.

However, he takes a great uninterrupted nap in the afternoon allowing me to rest as well. He's somewhat interested in snack, but just lays on the floor most of the late afternoon. By supper time I go to pick him up off the floor and he empties his stomach all over me. It came on so quickly and without warning that I am actually a little flustered by it, which seems odd since I should be use to it by now. Perhaps because I feel like he was getting better it is the shock and disappointment that crushes my spirit.

I call Marie again this time on the verge of tears and she is very sweet in reassuring me that I'm not over reacting and that at this point Micah needs to go back to the doctor's to be looked over again and be sure there isn't anything else going on other than a virus.

I'm so flustered and exhausted and worried ... I cry a lot. I think of those parents who know that their children have terminal or chronic illnesses and I cry for them too. My imagination goes wild and I have to pray that God doesn't let Satan use that as a foothold to feed me lies. I pray, "Lord, I know you are the Great Physician. I believe you can heal Micah if it is your will. Help my unbelief."

Day 13 - Monday

I call the doctor's office and explain that I would like Micah to have an appointment that day due to the fact that he has been throwing up for a total of 9 days now and that he has an ear infection that I am not sure is clearing up with the antibiotics he was prescribed.

Here's a rough recollection of the phone conversation with the nurse:

Nurse: "Does he have a fever?"
Me: "No."
Nurse: "How often is he throwing up?"
Me: "About once or twice a day."
Nurse: "There's not much we can do for him."
Me: "Really?! Even though he's been throwing up for 9 days now?"
Nurse: "It's most likely a virus and he'll be fine in a few days."
Me: "Ya, but for NINE days? Doesn't that seem like a long time for a virus?"
Nurse: "Viruses can last from 10 -14 days."
Me: "Well I'm also concerned that the antibiotic he's been on for 4 days is not working on his ear infection."
Nurse: "Well you need to finish the doses before you can say that."
Me: "It's a 5 day dose. Shouldn't it be working by now?"
Nurse: "You can make an appointment if you want to, but I don't think they're going to be able to do anything."

...

Blah, blah, blah, blah

I tell her I'll talk with my husband and call her back.

I call Marie first ... bawling my eyes out.

I didn't much care for the way the pediatrician dealt with me when Micah was diagnosed with the ear infection on Friday and now I feel even more like an incompetent mother talking to this nurse who was not sensitive of my concerns AT ALL. Again, Marie was so sweet. She reassured me that I was being quite conservative about bringing him in even this late in the game and that I should feel no shame in insisting a doctor see Micah that day.

I call Colin ... bawling my eyes out.

I tell him the whole story and ask him if he'll call the doctor's office to make the appointment because I can't hold it together at this point. I also tell him to ask for the nurse I normally talk to on the phone. She is much more understanding and we get an appointment for that afternoon. Colin takes Jackson to a friend's house and comes with me to the appointment to be a second set of ears and mouth.

So far Micah has kept all of his food down, but I haven't been letting him eat much. His normal weight is around 29 lbs. and on Friday at the doctor's he was 28 lbs. This afternoon he is 26 lbs. Poor guy.

However, he was in a playful mood despite all of the circumstances. Meeting with the Nurse Practitioner (I was really glad to not have the Ped. I saw last Friday) who listens closely to the whole 10 day ordeal of sickness and witnesses first hand Micah's behavior and physical appearance she agrees that it is a long time to have a virus, but that there is a small strand of viruses that can last up to 14 days and wants to wait a few days. If in a few days his symptoms haven't changed then she would like to look into other options.

She looks in his ears and sure enough they are worse than they were on Friday and both are infected, but she doesn't want to prescribe any new antibiotic if his stomach is still upset. She suggests we make another appointment for 2 days later and then a follow up for 3 weeks (we can always cancel the one in 2 days if he's completely back to normal).

You know, looking back at the conversation with the nurse on the phone, she was right ... in just about everything. BUT what if she wasn't? Could she really comfortably tell me that my child was just fine over the phone??? Without looking at him?? Although they couldn't really "do anything for him" I wanted them to make that decision in person after they looked at him with their own two eyes. And PLEASE ... a little more sympathy and the conversation would have gone over MUCH better.

Day 14 - Tuesday

Micah keeps everything in his stomach and had MUCH more energy, but is clearly still in pain from his ears and is a CRAB! We alternate between Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen to help with the pain (his first time on oral medicine in several days).

He snacks ALL DAY!

I debate about whether or not I want to cancel the appointment and end up calling the NP to ask her thoughts about Micah's ears.

She is delighted to hear that his tummy is feeling much better, but agrees with me and wants to take another look at his ears to make sure they are getting better.

Day 15 - Wednesday

Micah sleeps well with one middle of the night dose of pain meds. He wakes up hungry and has his first full meal since he came down with the flu about 12 days ago. I am a little nervous and keep the bucket close by just in case, but he's insistent on eating and stops himself when he's full in a much happier mood.

He's 27 lbs this time and the NP said his ears were much better.

He's back to himself aside from the fact that he's catching up on his calorie intake now and his sleep. I can't complain about that though.

The buckets are still lingering in the car and around the house. I wonder how long it will take before they are put away? (smile)

I really do think he's finally better and the virus is gone.

GOOD RIDDANCE!!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Travel

I love spending time with family. It's probably one of the most important and valuable things in my life aside from spending time with God. If it's possible, Colin loves it even more and of course our kids love it too. We have so many fond memories with family playing, laughing, celebrating, talking, reminiscing even mourning and weeping. Those moments are priceless and lately have been few and far between because we live so far away.

However, the distance we have to travel makes it a challenge for our family especially during the cold and flu season. In the three years that we've lived in California we've traveled home about 5 times. Of those 5 times we got pretty sick 3 of those trips. Christmas 2008 - we all got the stomach flu (except 9 week old Micah). I will forever have memories of nursing in a hotel room at 3am while puking into a garbage can (yes, I said "while"). That flu spread like wild fire throughout the ENTIRE extended family... it was terrible. At the end of that trip Micah came down with croup. I remember the panic I felt as he coughed and tried to breath worried that I had no idea where the closest urgent care was as we were driving the 4 hours from L.A. to our house. Easter 2009 - Micah (6 months old) came down with croup and a pretty bad case of hand, foot and mouth disease that took several weeks after our trip to recover from.

The third trip was only a couple of days ago and we are still trying to recuperate from it all. I'm distanced enough now from the most traumatic parts that I feel objective enough to write about it, but it hasn't been too long that I can't remember the details. So, I've decided to give you a glimpse into why travel and I have such a love/hate relationship by recalling each day of our travel adventures.

The Planning Phase

I love my husband's anticipation for the future. For example, it's not unusual that we get done with a really good lunch and he says, "what's for supper." I take it as a compliment that he looks forward to my cooking. It's the same with travel for him. We get done with one trip and he's already planning the next. I, however, need time to recuperate from the most recent trip (regardless if we all got sick or not) before I can even think about doing it again. I've equated traveling (especially over the holiday season and with young children) as "tax season" for Moms.

The conversation usually starts with a very ambitious Colin who wants to see every possible family member we can at or around Christmas whatever that means as far as expense, flying and driving and I think we should just stay home and play it "safe." Weeks and months pass with discussions and research into airline prices, work vacation available, etc.

This year I really was dead set on not traveling during the cold and flu season, but then the "that means we won't see family for almost a year" card was played due to the fact that our little girl is due to be born around the Easter holiday knocking that off of the possibility of traveling to family then. So, we made the compromise to travel shortly AFTER the crazy holiday season which would hopefully reduce our risk for illness and most certainly cut our costs in airfare.

The Anticipation

As the travel time draws closer and the last trip gets farther away we all, including myself, are excited about our trip. Jackson and I did school lessons about snow in anticipation for playing in the snow. Every time we skyped with Grandma and Papa the excitement in them and us grew stronger. The cousins can't wait to play with each other and both Jackson and Micah ask on a regular basis when they get to go to Iowa.

Day 1 - Wednesday
I do my usual house cleaning before we leave for a trip. It creates a little chaos, but I'm always so glad when I get home to a clean house after a busy trip. I also have a prenatal checkup just before we leave. We've made lists and packed reasonably since although we are allowed 8 pieces of check luggage and 4 carry-ons we only have 4 hands to hold it all (we've resigned to the cart rentals at the airport). I must say that we've perfected the packing.

We've planned when is the perfect time to leave for my grandparent's so that we don't hit too much traffic. The planned 3 hour drive is usually 4 hours due to traffic, but the boys are in good spirits with lots of anticipation, snacks and a portable DVD player in the back seat with all three of us (both Jackson and I get car sickness, so it's only out of necessity that I have to sit in the back of a Sudan wedged between two car seats ... 7 months pregnant mind you... a mini-van will be a must with #3) arriving at my grandparent's house just in time for bed.

Day 2 - Thursday
Colin and I wake up around 5:30am (an hour later than we had planned) and scramble to shower and get everything packed up and the boys ready to fly out of L.A. Luckily we've found that the car rental place will drive us straight to the terminal dropping our luggage off at curb-side check in making checking in a whole lot easier for a family with little ones.

The first leg of the trip is so short that we don't even take toys out of the toy bag. After a very short lay over we start our longer flight to Omaha. Colin and I divide and conquer now that both boys are required to have a ticket. Our ritual is to wipe down everything the boys will touch with a anti-bacterial wipe and make sure the vents our closed to help cut down on exposure to germs. For the most part the boys handle the trip very well. After we land we get our luggage and Colin gets the rental car.

Jackson is chomping at the bit to play in the snow and I let him for a little bit until we have to get into the car and drive another 4 hours to Grandma and Papa's in winter weather (luckily for us the weather was perfect).

We arrive at their house by bedtime, but to the kids it still feels two hours earlier so we let them stay up about an hour later so that they can enjoy a little bit of family time before we rush them off to their beds giving us time to get beds made and suitcases in their places for the week.



Day 3 - Friday
The day is spent rediscovering toys in Grandma and Papa's basement, playing with cousins and catching up with the whole family. We just hang around the house and visit and eat good food, decorate cookies, laugh and just enjoy being with each other.

We also got the cousin Christmas picture taken ... I'll have to get a digital copy from my sister-in-law to post because it turned out SO ADORABLE.

Jackson finally gets to experience what it's like to get bundled up to go out and play in the snow. He so desperately wanted to make a snowman and couldn't understand why it being too cold made it an impossible feat. (I wish I had pictures to post, but those are all on my sister-in-law's camera, so I'll have to get them from her and post them on a later date.)

That night at around 11pm Micah wakes up sick and I move to the basement couch and leave Colin in the bedroom the three of us were sharing to take care of him so I can get some sleep. Colin was up with him about every 2 hours.





Day 4 - Saturday
We have our family "Christmas Morning" but let Micah and Colin sleep in as long as they can warning everyone in the house (which was a total of 8 adults and 6 kids) that the stomach flu has hit the household and beware.

Despite the sickness we still enjoy opening presents and celebrating the gift of Jesus.

Micah only eats cheerios, but is still able to play and seems as though it may have been only a short bout of the flu. However, I am overly conscious of the toys that are shared and hands and toys put in mouths and become a bit of a germ Nazi to most of the kids while playing.

That night Micah wakes up in full force sickness and Colin is up again about every 2 to 3 hours and I'm on the couch.











Day 5 - Sunday
Colin and Micah stay home from church, but the rest of us enjoy worship and fellowship together. There is nothing like worshiping with family. It feels like a little taste of heaven to me. We had a relaxing Sunday and Colin was able to take a good nap to help catch up from his lack of sleep.

Micah seems to be doing better during the day, but doesn't eat much and is not his usual self.

Jackson wakes up at 11pm in full force sickness.

I move back in the room with Micah and Colin sets up camp out in the basement family room next to Jackson to be with him. He's again up every 2 - 3 hours.

Micah starts a fever and a cough and I'm up with him about every 3 hours.



Day 6 - Monday
The other brothers hope to get a head start so they can avoid the winter storm on it's way. The cousins have to say their tearful goodbyes and the troupes load up in their vehicles filled to the brim.

Orin gets sick on the way home.

Thatcher gets sick that night at home (he's scheduled for a major surgery the next day so I'm sure my sister-in-law was a tad bit anxious to say the least).

Jackson and Micah are so sick that we have to follow them around the house with buckets ... no joke. We gave up on doing laundry right away knowing that we'd have a pile to do at the end of the day.

We watch quite a few movies!! Almost all day in fact ... with a short break to explore Grandma's attic though.

The fever comes and goes for the both of them during the day and at night, but Jackson makes it through most of the night resting soundly. Micah was up about every 4 hours. Colin still slept with Jackson and I with Micah.






Day 7 - Tuesday
We call friends in Omaha to cancel our get together due to the boys being sick. We also call the airline to see if we can get a flight for 48 hours later, but they informed us that that would cost us at total of $1600!! YIKES!! If we rescheduled for a week later it'd cost us $800 ... so we opted to fly with two very sick boys.

We pack up our stuff at a leisurely pace. Jackson takes voluntary naps on the couch throughout the morning, but is able to keep down some bananas and toast. Micah finally goes down with a fight for about an hour allowing us to pack the car.

We drive 4 hours to Omaha in a little more questionable weather this time only stopping once for McDonald's for Colin and I. However, we attempt to give the boys a little bit of chicken nuggets. Jackson does okay, but Micah ... not so much. I'll spare you the gruesomeness and just say I'm glad it hadn't been in his stomach for too long because it didn't have an awful smell yet.

We were going to stay with friends in Omaha, but we decide to spare them and their family this illness by getting a hotel room close by.

Colin was gracious enough to still let me go visit with my girlfriends and put the boys to bed by himself. It was such a gift to be able to catch up with women that I love so dearly.

However, by the time I get back to the hotel at 11pm Colin is sick too... and I was so looking forward to being able to finally sleep in the same bed with him. Luckily all three of my boys sleep through the night although I'm pretty sure they ALL have fevers.

I spend most of the night praying that I won't get sick and keenly aware of the boys ability to wake at any moment sick as dogs.

Day 8 - Wednesday

Thatcher and Lilly have their scheduled surgery ... I pray for them lots! And their little brother Tucker comes down with the flu. Both of their grandma's were able to come to the rescue and help with the three kids all in need of special attention in one way or another. Papa was left behind at his house having finally caught the flu himself.

We booked a later flight out, so we were able to sleep in a little. Jackson and Micah are actually playful, but by the time we check out all 3 boys were pretty exhausted.

We make it through check-in and security discovering that our flight is delayed by about a half hour. The attendant at the check-in counter warns us that we most likely won't make our connecting flight to L.A. out of Denver, but that they've reserved us seats on the next flight out 3 HOURS LATER!!!

Man was I praying!!!! PLEASE LORD LET US MAKE THAT FLIGHT!! I did not want to be stuck in an airport for 3 HOURS with 3 sick boys.

Colin found a bench to sleep under and I occupied the boys. So far no throwing up, but we'd been alternating Ibuprofen and Tylenol with Micah every 3 hours because he was visibly uncomfortable and still had a fever.

I talk to the lady at the ticket counter to see if we can arrange to have the first or second row of seats (it's first come first serve on Southwest) due to the fact that we have so many sick people traveling in our group and that we'd need to rush in order to make our connecting flight ... uh ... no ... they were NOT helpful AT ALL! GRRRRR!

Fortunately the flight arrivs a little earlier than they thought and they hold the L.A. plane for us in Denver. Good thing too because I am surprised that the flight even took off looking out the window. I bet our 3 hours would have been much longer. Once our plane is de-iced and in the air I am much calmer.

Micah sleeps on me most of the way. Jackson plays so nicely by himself close by Colin who was able to sleep some more. The flight was pretty empty and I am glad for that because on the descent Micah finally loses it and we are changing his clothes and wiping down his seat as we land.

Unfortunately the car rental place doesn't pick up at the terminal so we have to haul all of our luggage to a bus stop and wait for the rental bus to pick us up. It takes a little longer than usual. We get our car and get situated. Only to get on the interstate and "crawl" the 4 hours towards home.

Jackson gets sick, but I'm pretty sure it is just motion sickness.

Eventually we drive through a fast food place trying to find the most mild food on the menu for the boys (Jack In the Box has a rice bowl and were able to put the rice and toppings in two separate containers).

By this time Colin feels more rested and can stomach more subtantial food, but decides not to have his normal coffee or Dr. Pepper and that says a lot for him.

We arrive home at around 10pm, but it feels like midnight to us. Jackson is delighted to be in his own bed and Micah goes down for the night with a pretty empty tummy, but we were still giving him medicine which he threw up later that night.

Day 9 - Thursday
Colin goes in late to work.

The boys wake up in good spirits and play while I unpack until about 10:30am when Micah is feverish and only wants to be held. Colin comes home around 11:30 and picks up Jackson so they can go see the rocket launch and really to give Micah and I some down time. Then Colin works the rest of the day from home.

From about 11:30 until 4pm Micah sleeps on and off on my chest and does not want to be put down. He has a mild fever, but I don't want to upset his tummy by giving him more medicine. He threw up his lunch by this point and is not even really interested in water.

I call my girlfriend, Marie, who is a pediatrician in Omaha to ask her advice. Seeing as Micah's fever was going on day 5 she advices me to make an appointment with our pediatrician suspecting that he may have a bacterial ear infection. When they call back to set up the appointment I expressed my concern about giving him pain medicine and they suggested a suppository of acetametaphin. NOT my first choice of a solution, but Colin got some and luckily we have a good friend who has to do suppositories for one of her children on a regular basis, so she was able to give us good advice.

Poor Jackson is feeling the fact that I can't spend time with just him and although he got special time with Colin he has an emotional meltdown at bedtime wanting me to put him to bed. Fortunately Micah is exhausted and goes down quickly so I can spend time reading with Jackson.

Micah sleeps SO much better and we end up giving him one more suppository in the night.

Day 10 - Friday

Micah wakes up fever free and in much better spirits and even keeps breakfast down. We are off to the doctor's and Colin works from home with Jackson. The doctor confirms that Micah has an ear infection and perscribes an antibiotic.

We get it filled as soon as we're back in town and I give it to Micah at lunch only to have him throw it up 5 minutes later. I call Marie once again and she says it's fine to give him another dose. He keeps that one down.

The boys take great naps, but they are not all that interested in supper and Micah tosses most of it anyway. Poor Colin cleans that one up because it didn't make it into the bucket we've been following Micah around with and I put the boys in a bath for almost an hour.

We... I decide to spare Micah another suppository and see how he makes it through the night, but he doesn't make it past 11pm without tossing his cookies in bed and we have to change him and his sheets. We give him a suppository and he sleeps much better. Finally we're connecting that dots that his ears hurt and cause him to have coughing fits which trigger is gauge reflex and ... well you know the rest.

Day 11 - Saturday (Today)

I give Micah his antibiotics on an empty stomach and rock with him in his room for 20 minutes to be sure that they actually absorb before we attempt breakfast.

Jackson and Colin are back to normal.

We decide to feed Micah smaller amounts of food every hour rather than smaller meals every 4 hours and we continue to give him suppositories during the day and into the evening.

So far Micah's kept everything in his stomach. He has moments of being weepy especially when I wouldn't allow him to be over indulgent on certain foods, but I can tell he's feeling better.

We've got 3 more days of the antibiotic, so now I'm just praying that it works. If we don't see any imporvement tomorrow or if he regresses I think we'll be back at the doctor's on Monday.

So our one week trip turned into just about a two week ordeal. It's no fun to be sick in your own home, it's even worse in someone elses' home, but it is by far the PITS to be sick in a hotel room and/or airplane and/or traveling long distance in a car. I wouldn't recommend it to ANYONE!

BUT, we survived! Colin and I are slowly catching up on sleep and our boys are starting to act like the boys we knew before they got sick. Laundry is folded but not put away, I was able to buy a few groceries, but not with much planning for meals (Colin has been amazing and dealing with most of that) and the clean house we came home to is in disarray. BUT my boys are feeling better ... FINALLY!

Can you see the dicotomy? The joy in the pictures and stories I've posted, but the exhaustion and anxiety present too? Can you understand why it's so hard for me to want to travel, but miss my family so much that I do it anyway? Perhaps not, but at least I was able to get this all off of my chest.

So, don't ask me about when I'll be traveling next ... at least not for a few months.

Micah at 2 Years Old

2 Year Check Up:
Weight: 27.7lbs 50%
Height: (I can't remember the inches) 50%
HC: 49cm 50% (The doctor made a comment about him growing into his head. Haha.)

All of the questions asked concerning development raised no red flags for autism. Micah is ahead in his verbal and cognitive development. Dr. Macias was impressed that he can already count with little assistance to 10 and knows at least 2 colors and can recognize almost all of the upper case letters in the alphabet. He's also impressed that he's been saying 7 word sentences pretty consistently. He said a 3 word sentence is usually a sign of a 200 word vocabulary so Micah has obviously exceeded that. I just pointed to his big brother as the attributing factor because as much as I would LOVE to take credit for giving Micah one-on-one attention in that area it doesn't always happen.

Potty Training

Micah shows an interest in potty training every once in awhile, but it's definitely on his terms. He has gone pee several times in the potty and poop only twice, but he has to sit there a looooong time. I'm okay with letting him choose when he wants to be trained, but I've also got a few tricks up my sleeve (like a few toys he can only play with while he's on the potty). I know Jackson being potty trained at 2 years old was an anomaly and I'm not going to rush Micah because that could back fire on me big time.

Personality

Micah is my strong willed boy. He can be stubborn when it comes to saying "sorry" and when asked to do something specifically. Discipline takes longer because of that sometimes, but I know it will all pay off later.

A positive spin on the strong will is that he usually knows what he wants and rarely changes his mind about it. That made his birthday and will make Christmas really fun this year. (He's been eyeing a toy guitar in the Toys R Us ad as of late.)

He loves anything with buttons and anything having to do with music. Singing, the piano, the guitar, etc. He regularly makes up songs about random things he plays with or sees and loves it when the rest of the family makes up songs too. Although he can be pretty bossy about what bedtime songs he wants sung to him at night. :) But he also loves to sing along and I think that's adorable!

He is such a goof ball sometimes and gets the giggles right before bed. I love it and probably give in to it too often making it harder for him to settle down for the night, but I just treasure the times we have alone in his dimly lite room giggling about his silliness.

However, he's pretty shy around strangers and it takes him awhile to warm up to even family members, so don't be surprised if you don't hear him singing or even talking when you first meet him.

He ADORES his older brother and wants to do what ever he's doing. Most of the time that makes for a great play situation, but sometimes it can cause conflict over toys or my attention. I've resigned to the fact that I may have to buy multiples of the same toy to keep the peace (cheap toys that is ... I'm not that crazy). For example, one of my smarter purchases lately were two $1 flashlights. They will play in a closet with those together for at least an hour. I love that my two boys are such good buddies.

One of Micah's favorite things to do is find a place to hide and be alone. He loves forts and I think for his sake we might have to have a club house/tree house in the future. I remember doing that myself as a child and even now I tend to be rejuvenated more when I'm by myself than when I'm with other people.

Micah is almost hyper observant at times and catches on to things I would have never thought he would. He is such a little sponge lately ... the other day he was trying to say "hypothesis" and "ominous" because he heard us talking about it. He has a great memory too. That mixed with his strong will may be a challenge for Colin and I as he gets older. We're just praying he uses it for the greater good.

Our Prayer

Dear Father,

Thank you for Micah. Thank you for 2 years of life with him. He belongs to you and is a gift to us. Use him and everything about him for your glory. Help him to desire to know you more and be more like Jesus all the days of his life.

Amen

Fun Vacation Memories

I realize my blog can be overly practical at times and my last blog about vacation didn't mention any of the fun stuff we did. So here is a list of the fun memories from our family vacation in no particular order.

1. Playing on the beach every day with the kids.
2. Micah's excitement as lake waves reached his chin and he'd smile and say, "More!"
3. Sun bathing with the other moms as our children took long naps in the warm cabin.



4. Going running with those same moms after our kids went to bed.
5. Learning how to play "Hand and Foot."
6. Sneaking into the bedroom at 11:30 at night as 3 boys slept in nooks and crannies.
7. Finding those 3 boys playing when they were supposed to be napping in the bedroom.
8. Papa telling stories at midnight to help Jackson be brave during a big storm.
9. Taking Lilly and Jackson to their first evening movie "Despicable Me" in 3D.



10. Jackson shouting, "I wish Papa were here, he likes M&Ms" at the movies (my in-laws stayed home to watch the 4 younger kids).
11. Going out to eat for my mother-in-law's birthday and announcing that we are expecting our 3rd child in March.
12. Caravaning with my sister and her husband to WI.
13. Jackson shouting, "My mommy has a baby in her tummy" right when we arrived at the Door County cabin ... so much for timing.



14. My brother teaching me how to play "Texas Hold 'Em."
15. Playing dominoes with Becky, Lora and Jackson.
16. The AMAZING burgers and steaks Brian and Lora made.
17. Getting alone time with my sister.
18. Learning how to make "Cloud Nines" (chocolate chip cookies, Reece's Peanut Butter Cup and roasted marshmallow) over a fire pit.
19. Playing "BS" with Taryn, Caitlin, Diana and my dad (turns out he's not very good at it).



20. Witnessing Caitlin and Taryn becoming teenagers.
21. Seeing Ericka with the rest of the family even though my brother wasn't there.
22. Bible Story times as a large family.



23. Watching my two boys bond with other family members!!

There really were so many good memories to mention them all in this blog. I will truly treasure this trip for a life time.

Vacation Notes

We just got back from a lengthy vacation to the Midwest and I wanted to be sure to take note of the things that I'd do for next time.

For the first leg of our trip we flew out of Ontario (which was a lot less hecktick than LAX) and flew into Omaha and drove to Spirit Lake all in one day. We didn't actually arrive at the cabin until around midnight, but it felt like ten o'clock to us. We stayed there for one week with the rest of the Doughan families arriving about a day and a half after we arrived. We had a total of 8 adults and 6 kids (under the age of 5) in a small two bedroom cabin.

At the end of the week we drove 4 hours and stayed in a hotel and then the next morning drove another 4 hours to a cabin in Door County. We were there for only a weekend and the adults out numbered the children almost 4 to 1 which was a nice change of pace. After a short weekend we drove 3 1/4 hours to my dad's and spent about two days there.

Overall, (if you include the night we spent at my grandparents' in LA) our trip spanned 14 days and we had about 32 hours in an airplane or a car.

If you know me or spoke to me or read my facebook at all before we left you'd know that I was a little stressed about the possibility of the craziness that could have arose from the long trip we had planned. I truly tried to give my worries to the Lord and enjoy each and every moment I had with family and by God's grace the vacation was a lot less challenging than I thought it would be.

For next time I would:

1. Guard our schedules before and after the trip to make sure we get plenty of sleep and eat healthy well balanced meals. This helped us all have much happier hearts and also made sure our immune systems were in shape.

I was nervous that my boys would get sick like they usually do when traveling on airplanes, but I think it helped that we weren't traveling during cold and flu season.

Arriving at the cabin a day or so before the rest of the family helped with this too. The boys were able to get a good night's sleep and get adjusted to the two hour time change before they gained some roommates/playmates at night time.

2. Be okay with snacking while we travel and bring healthy options for snacks so we don't fill up on junk (airport security had no problems letting me bring pre-sliced apples and carrots on the plane).

The time zone changes, pressure changes in airplanes, motion sickness, being out of routine, etc. all lend to snacking. I'm okay with it the days we travel all day long, but I try to quickly get us back on regularly scheduled meals as fast as possible.

3. If we have to eat out make sure we choose healthy options because vacations tend to lend themselves to having lots of "treats" be that chocolate brownies or hot dogs and potato chips. Subway was a lifesaver for us many times on this trip.

4. Be okay with watching more DVDs than normal in order to give the kids a little down time after a long day of play and to get through long car rides. Our portable DVD player came in VERY handy.

Note: I did bring some new toys and even wrapped them so the boys could open them and play with them in the car, but they lost interest in them very quickly.

5. Drive a bigger vehicle if possible for long road trips. We ended up renting a Ford Flex (about a mini-van size) and I put Micah in the third row behind Jackson in the second row on the right side of car so that I could reach both of them easily without making myself get motion sickness (which can happen to me pretty easily).

As a result we all got a few naps in in the car (with the exception of Colin who drove), but I'll know for next time not to rely on those naps because they may or may not happen.

6. White noise is a MUST! The Spirit Lake cabin had lots of fans running and even though most of the kids were sleeping in the same room with each other I think the fans really helped them stay asleep even if someone woke up crying.

It was an adventure when we had a huge thunder storm the first night (100 mph wind) and we lost power for 24 hours. Luckily our sound spa can run off of batteries and my sister-in-law's dad was able to bring over a generator so we could run the fridge.

7. 14 days is LOOOOOOOOOONG vacation for little kids. By about day 10 Micah was having random melt downs every day and Jackson was more irritable ... to be honest, so was I.

I loved having that much time with family, but I may either have to mentally prepare myself for that again or cut the trip by about 2 - 3 days for my sanity. We may have to see my dad first next time though since he had the "burnt out end of the trip" this time around. :)

8. Make sure to give our family about 3 - 5 days AFTER our vacation to fully adjust back to our normal routines. Time zone changes are hard and Micah's been having some big issues with napping since we've been home.

However, I must say that even though it seems anal and can be a frenzy to do a good house cleaning before we left on a long trip it was a huge sigh of relief to come home to.

We had SUCH a good time on our trip!!! It was so good to see everyone especially the Fanning side in light of the past years' events. It may sound crazy to me know, but I really am hoping to make this more of an annual event.


Spirit Lake, IA


The one-year-olds! These three boys are each 4 months apart in age starting with Micah then Orin and then Tucker.




The two oldest cousins ... 4 years old and also 4 months apart in age.



Micah making "soup" with sand and lake water.






Jackson having some bonding time with Great-Grandma Heyer.




Door County, WI








Union Grove, WI


BOYS! Jackson loved to wrestle and play with his older cousins.





I think Micah's favorite part of the trip was Gomez ... my dad's dog.




Grampa Fanning giving the boys fresh blueberries and raspberries from his garden.

Breakfast of Little Champions

If you know me, you know that when my kids are in the pureed baby food stage I have no qualms about mixing different foods together to speed up the feeding process. That mixing has resulted in some experimenting over the past years and a few creations that my kids love and I feel are a really tasty and healthy choice for them.

Here is a GREAT breakfast that is a good source of protein, iron, fiber and vitamin C.

PB&J Oatmeal
1 serving

1/2 c. prepared instant oatmeal
1 - 1/2 tablespoon of natural peanut butter or almond butter (if allergic to peanuts)
1/4c. unsweetened applesauce
fresh or thawed frozen blueberries and/or strawberries

Mix the first three ingredients and top with fruit. Serve and enjoy! (Note: sometimes I'll use yogurt instead of applesauce for a little extra protein and probiotics).