Spring

Spring has come... well, in its own way. This year has had a lot of back and forth spring like weather - which I think is the same in many places around the country. But on nice days (when no one is sick) we try to get out and take a walk. If not that, then we've run off to the park (which I've yet to take pictures of this year).



Peter as so excited when he saw the first flowers, and especially when he found our own daffodils (that's almost the only flower we have at the moment). He picked me a couple and we put them in a vase, but I told him to let the others stay outside so we could enjoy them more. That we'd get more when these ones died. He was a little disappointed, until he went out to ride his bike and then he was happy that he had so many yellow faces waving back at him.


This picture of the boys is precious. They were holding hand as we walked back to the house - though you can't actually see that because of the way the were walking. Bad angle for me. But the Sunday after this pictures, I had sick kids, so the boys went to Grandma's to get a ride. Once again they were holding hands, and that time they were in cute Sunday outfits! As a mom, it was one of those moments that brings tears of joy to you eyes - a small glimpse of perfection.


But for this pictures, I had to include it since it shows just how the boys measure up to each other. They are 19 months apart - but you couldn't tell. By fall they will most likely be in the same size clothes.


Good spring days are also times just to be able to be out in the fresh air. Bethie loves to draw, and so she spent one afternoon lounging on the deck with her markets and a stack of paper. But often you can find someone out there reading - especially Gabi - and when they aren't there, they are biking or roller skating in the driveway or digging in the dirt or playing in the "maze" or on the tire swing.


Bob's be glad for garden days! It's a hobby that he loves - and which we all love that he loves! This year he got some things in the greenhouse going over a month ago now - so we've already had fresh chives, fresh asparagus, and fresh baby spinach! So yummy - and before we'd ever even consider planting back in Maine (of course, we didn't have a green house there). Many more things have made it into the greenhouse and the garden and we've been seeing plants starting to pop! It's wonderful!


Other days, that look beautiful from the window, but are too windy and cold to enjoy outside, are great for indoor things. We often like to do a family read aloud. Bob hasn't had a lot of time (you all know how he likes to book himself solid and run non-stop), so school vacation as a treat. He was still busy, but he found time to spend with the kids and me - more then the usual wrestling match at bedtime, kisses out the door kind of thing. This picture shows him reading Tom Sawyer to the kids - well, it started out as reading to Gabi, but as soon as kids hear a story, they come running! It was so nice - and we all enjoyed it!

Milestones

So I'm terrible about milestone markings for little Jacob.... sorry!

Amongst all the allergy issues (of which I know make my own detergent and Jacob only uses the same soap that I use for the detergent which isn't a real soap for bathing and we're still trying to discover what I believe is one culprit which is so random and rare that I think I know, but I'm not certain) Jacob has been teething like crazy! Needless to say, sleepless nights were so normal that anything more than a hour at a time was heaven.

Something I did notice was that Jacob would break out every time his teeth bothered him, and when I'd give him pain killers the redness went away. I also noticed that if he rubbed his skin, it would immediately flare up. In other words, he has extremely delicate skin.

But with all that, Jacob finally cut in two teeth - he was around 8 months old. In fact, he got sick twice in a three hour period and then was fine and six days later cut the first tooth. Then, a week later, he got sick once and was fine in less than two hours and six days later cut the second tooth. See a pattern.. I think maybe, but we'll have to wait for tooth number three to be sure.

What I loved this time around was that I actually got to see the whole process. Yes, I've seen the blister before. Yes, I've seen the tiny white line just after it pops through. But I'd never seen the tooth inside the blister and watched it actual move upward over the course of the day. I got to do that with Jacob! It was such an amazing and neat experience.... maybe only a mother can appreciate the odd joy there, but it was something I know I'll always look back and smile on.

He's been a lot happier (although even at his crankiest, Jacob found ways to be happy and smile and giggle... what a huge blessing). He loves those little teeth and biting things. In fact, he loves to bit so much now that his top teeth have begun to bother him that he can't understand why we keep telling him no. He doesn't understand that those bottom teeth hurt and therefore make such biting on people no longer acceptable.

He went back on food around 8 months too... and has done very well. He is able to eat everything so far except cold dairy products... as in, if milk is in something baked, he seems to be fine, but he appears to have an issue with cheese and yogurt. So, we'll hold off on those for a while longer and see what happens. I must admit I was surprised to learn that not only can he eat eggs with out problem, but he LOVES egg salad - which was discovered after he ate a bunch of Bud's potato salad!

Getting Jacob to move - roll over consistently, crawl, that kind of thing - has been a little tricky. He'd been able to roll over for a while, but didn't do much of it until we cleared up the weepy rash back in January. Even then, he, being a 5th child, found that there was generally someone around to do the work for him. And if he was sitting up, he was happy. But after much encouragement, Jacob finally managed to get on the move - ever so slightly. Just on his tummy, digging his toes into the carpet, and only maybe an inch. He'd do it often enough that we knew he was really doing it, but he wasn't happy enough with it to really go far, although he loved to spin in circles.

After that came about a month of leaning forward from his sitting position, rocking on the one leg and one knee and immediately coming back to sitting. Cautious - Beth had once been that way. We kept encouraging, but I was seriously giving up and resigning myself to haven't the baby suck to me - because following me wasn't really an option.

My friend let us borrow a push behind walker, which Jacob loves - but he can't turn it himself, so someone still had to be with him while he used it. He also loved holding someone's hands and walking - most especially if that someone was Peter and they were both all but running down the hall to the boys room (where Jacob loves most to play) - I love those moments because Jacob will laugh the whole way down the hall.

Next I noticed Jacob start flopping to his stomach, and then he learned how to pull one leg back up. Then he was starting to butt-scoot. Anyway, he still wasn't getting very far until one more, one week and three days before Easter (so that would have been April 14th... exactly 9 months old) he figured out how to scoot on his hands, with on foot down and one knee down. By afternoon he'd figured out how to go with both knees down, but found it less satisfying and generally chooses the former. Three days later (Sunday before Easter) while everyone else is busy doing things around us, Jacob is trying to get a block out of the block basket (one of those collapsible toy basket things) while holding on to my hand and standing. Not content with what he can reach, he let go of my hand, one hand on the edge of the collapsible basket, and took three steps. I know he had no idea what he'd done, but he'd done it all the same... and without any coaxing.

I'd been saying all along that he'd probably do it all at the same time, just the way he was doing things, but it was still a shock to me. A little later I set him just away from me and he walked to me. Later still, Bob had him walking to him and the it was back and forth between us. I didn't get pictures until he was worn out and tired, but I did get a couple that night. That first night he took 6 steps in a row - that was the most.

Since then he'll walk to the kids as well, walk along the furniture, and even tried to walk to the TV. He's not really a walker yet, but he's certainly stepping away. I'm sure it won't be too long before he's steadily running - but for now, he's happy to crawl around as fast as he can, exploring the house in a whole new way.

Lit Jam

I have really not written much this year..... at least not on the blog. I feel like some how I'm missing parts of the story of our life because of it... oh well, I'll try to do better, but I have to admit that I have a lot of things that take up my mind - not to mention my time.

The first year of the kids at the school year was a great year in learning about some of the special programs that happen. One program was Lit Jam - Literary Jamboree - which, I must admit, I was not very thrilled to hear about. Of course I had my own pre-conceived notions about the program and could not understand why a "writing conference" was focusing on kids starting as young as 3rd grade. To be honest, I'm still not really sure about that side of it.

However, I learned a little, and it wasn't the "writing conferences" I had been exposed to as a teenager, and since Gabi had her heart set on it, well, we let her do it. Her whole class wrote pieces as if they were going, but only those who actually were planning on attending submitted their pieces to be judged. You could submit up to three pieces of work, but Gabi wanted to just do the one since it was her first year. All I ever saw of her writing before it went in was when I helped her separate paragraphs while she was typing it up.

To be honest, I wasn't thrilled with the piece, but I didn't know how it would be graded and I am not at all experienced in her age group and writing abilities. All I knew was that I'd seen better from Gabi before - at least I thought I'd had.

Still, we were given notice that she had won an award so we went to the awards ceremony - boy was it packed - and found she'd received a mark of superb. Obviously the pieces were marked with grade level appropriate rubrics. I was impressed (and very much grateful that my lack of expertise had not been part of the rating and grading).

She had several friends that went as well, but one friend in particular, from another school, also earned great marks. Eliza had submitted two pieces and received the marks of excellent and superb. It was a great evening for them both.

Gabi loved going to Lit Jam and is eagerly awaiting next year. In the meantime, she wrote Bob a story for his birthday (in about 30 minutes) and as I typed it up for her (she'd run out of time and isn't as fast a typer) I realized how well she really writes - especially when it's completely her own idea and her own topic - not trying to focus on a topic someone else has told her she has to write about. The girl's got talent - noticeable talent!

Don't tell her, but I think she's better than I was at her age..... not that I have anything much to fall back on!

School Spirit Days

There have been a few more Spirit days....

One was Sci-Fi - somewhere around Valentine's Day

Gabi was Princess Leia

Jeremy was Flubber

Beth was Valentine Girl (she made that up herself... her own superhero)

The other one was Crazy Hair Day and happened to just be last Friday.

Gabi wanted to do something with three braids and then pulling it up on her head - "like a tent" she had said.

Beth did her own... she has lit clipped under her chin.

Jeremy wanted a mohawk - so lots and lots of mousse and hairspray, this is what we got. It looked better when it was fully dry - but his hair just doesn't stand straight up - he looked like he had a large wave no the top of his head! (And it stayed like that, even through sleep, for three days before I forced it down for church)

Nose-Sault

A week and a half ago, Bethie invented a new move.... I call it the nose-sault.

Recess is never as boring as when you need to get a drink - so you amble inside to a classroom (with a water fountain) because the one outside is just not to your liking. There is no teacher around, just a few close friends, and well, it'll only take a minute. Get a drink and then work your way back through the maze of desks... wait, this is by far more fun then recess. Hands placed squarely (or close enough) on two separate desks and begin swinging. Before you know it, feet swing too far back, hands slip off, and down goes the head making the nose-sault complete!

Yes, this would be Beth! She landed on her nose - it started to bleed, so she and friend went to the office. The bleeding was taken care of, no explanation given, and off they went to class (at this point, it was not obvious there was a problem). Bob (who works in the same school) saw her later. She had a black line across her nose and going down into her right eye. The rest of the nose was swollen and red -a true Rudolph! This all happened at morning recess.

No ice was given - no tears shed - and home she came happy as ever and ready to play with friends. She was watching a movie (which came earlier in the week then planned) when Bob called to ask me if I'd seen Beth yet. I had no idea - four extra kids, getting snack out, and Beth running off to change made it a little less than obvious that I need to take a look. So, on the phone I walk to the other room and stand in front of her - curtains closed, room nice and dark (so the movie could be better seen) and I saw the mess right away (of course, I've also already heard the story from Bob) and am trying not to laugh as I say "She broke her nose!"

Well, it was straight, it had happen HOURS ago, and she appeared to be fine. So I figured, no reason to head in to the doctors and possibly re-break (the nice term being, "set") her nose. Bob took her to see Dad, it was decided that she was probably fine but that she ought to have it checked just in case of breathing issues. So, the next morning (the black now being contained just to the nose) I get her an appointment and in we go... doctor couldn't tell right there if it was broken or not, but the one side was more swollen then the other, so he wanted an X-ray... nix that, a CAT scan (apparently it makes it easier to see such little bones and differentiate between growth plates and fractures).



That afternoon she went in for her CAT scan (the first of the 7 of us to ever do that) - all smiles, but trying to "not be happy". I had to laugh... it is fun to have the attention, even if it wasn't planned and even if it did mean you had to do normally 'scary' things. She's a middle child... can you tell!

*I took the picture the second day - it was healing well... it did blacken more a couple days later though.

Gabi Really Did Have a Birthday

I seem to get later and later at this stuff... don't remind me....

Mid March was Gabi's annual celebration. Like her sister, she went without a theme and planned her own games and things. I just put together treats and called it good. It was really easy, she had tons of fun and that's all that matters... right?

She didn't want cake, she wanted brownies... oh, let me back up.... for her Class treat, she wanted to do the mini cheesecakes with strawberries again... no problem... except, well, our oven had been a little on the fritz off and on. Still, things were going well.. until the last batch, and then I wasn't sure what really happened, but they were still yummy.

When I tried to make her brownies the next day, they were perfect on top, so I pulled them so they could set up. By the time it was time to have the "brownie sundaes", well, the bottom had never really set up. I was glad she was doing sundaes, so we just scooped the brownies and called it good enough. Everyone loved them.


I was a bit frustrated... when Bob came home, he took a look at the oven... the element was in need of replacement (I so should have taken a picture) - when he removed the bottom element, there was a whole section about two inches long that had fallen off - the circuit was thus broken and there was no heat coming from it. I vaguely remembered once a "spark" that I thought I had seen from just that spot when baking earlier in the week. But when I had "double checked" I had figured it was my imagination... I guess that's when the element really died. (Yes, it's been replaced and the oven works fine now.. thank goodness)

Gabi loved all her gifts, which were, of course, mostly books! But was most happy to have been able to have several friends over to play while I kept the other kids out of her hair - most of the time.

We did have our FHE birthday too - which was full of hyped up kids - because what's better on a Monday night than cake and presents?

Buried

Well, it's been while, and it all melted away and we only have a little today - which is new, and that's why I'm blogging this now.... seemed a good reminder.


I know there are many of you who think we don't get snow... or at least not much... that's okay, having lived in Maine for just over 12 years and Vermont before that, well, I can certainly attest to the LACK of snow in comparison.... however... we do, on occassion, get snow... even enough to be "buried"... although it doesn't seem to "add up" pile upon pile upon helpless, miserable pile.


These pictures were from a couple of "large" snow storms we had out this way - I think, if I remember right, between the storms (which were only two days apart) we had about 4 feet, maybe more. The kids had fun... I liked to see the snow "pictures" before tracks and kids had knocked the snow about... okay, before they stomped it down - it was, after all, a very heavy, very wet snow.... we do like wet around these parts... we'll take all we can get!



Like the "chair"? That was on our deck, and Beth decided to just "hang out" and created this chair from all the snow. The next day, Gabi discovered the chair and, with her own addition, made it into a lounge chair.



Strangely enough, though the kids started snowmen at different times this year, they never did make any. Which, with so much wet snow, we should have been able to make an entire neighbor of snowmen... oh well... and I never took Jacob out in it... he can wait until next winter when he can enjoy it more!

Brotherly Love

After being home and playing with Peter for bout 2 1/2 hours after school, Jeremy headed over to practice the piano at Grandma's house. Peter came out from cleaning his room (which was what the two were working on when Jeremy actually left, game on hold) and said to me:

"Is Jeremy at piano?.... I hate when Jeremy is gone. I miss Jeremy when he's not here. We need to go and tell them no more school. Then he can stay with us."

Adults

Friday night, over dinner, the conversation turned to how important it is too continue your education. In discussing this, it was mentioned that Bob and I both finished school after we had the girls.

Jeremy then asked "So then, you and mom were adults when you had me and Peter?"

Bob and I exchanged a quick look, and while I tried not to laugh, Bob answered "Yes." And I added, "We were adults when we had all of you, even Beth and Gabi."

Jeremy's reply, "Oh. So college is school for adults."

The Jacob Challenge

Okay, so I've said that I would post about all the Jacob stuff and now I am.

Jacob is our wonderful little gift. He arrived mid-summer, happy, peace, easy going. His schedule was backwards at first, although it only took about a week to get him turned around the right way. He slept peacefully in his cradle - across the room from me. He'd wake at the normal intervals to eat and be changed. And what I loved most about his ability to really enjoy his sleep was that when he was tired, I could take him in and just lay him down. He'd look around and smile, look at me and then close his eyes and go to sleep. Notice he isn't swaddled in the picture... that was normal. He didn't need it. And by 4 months I was gettin gat least one 4 hour stretch every night and sometimes up to 6. It was heaven!


The picture at the top of our blog was taken when Jacob was only a couple of weeks old. See how peaceful he is? See how clear his skin is? Perfect. He was perfect in every way. No troubles, no struggles (really... although I was the normal tired new mommy.... and I had four other kids). He laughed early, and easily. He smiled all the time. He was joy - although he HATED to be on his stomach. Still, he at least tried to enjoy himself before giving up.

As time went on, he discovered he LOVED the exersaucer. He has always had very powerful legs and that let him use them. He continued to play well with everyone, although he wanted to be sure there was someone with him. He's a people person - does not like to be alone! Well, with six other people in the house, that was not really an issue. He didn't require that he be held all the time, just that he could see and interact with others.



As you'll notice in the pictures, his beautiful, perfect, skin began to change. He was developing patches of eczema. "Here we go." I thought... after all, three of the other four had issues with eczema when they were babies. All at differing degrees, and all cleared up as the baby's skin adjusted to the new world. Two had eczema that returned, aggreviated by lack of humidity in the winter season. And one of those had a severe outbreak starting around a year and a half which we later discovered were contact and food allergies. (Sensitivities really seeing that they were outgrown... well, the food ones were and the contact is not quite as sensitive.) That was a long battle. It had me angry, mad, yelling, screaming, fighting, wishing, stressing, and trying everything I could think of. It paid off. It was not easy. But it paid off. Peter is a happy boy who lives a very normal life without severe pain and itching.

I was hopeful that Jacob's would be just the simple baby eczema that goes away as the skin adjusts to the new world. And at first it appeared that we'd be lucky. It would come and go. Nothing too severe. But I kept an eye on it, ready to start sorting things out if needed.


As you can see from the pictures, it started to get worse - patches that were always there and never going away. But they were still in the usual places - mostly. And we were preparing for a trip East to visit family. The visit was nice, but Jacob got worse just before we left. It wasn't pretty, but he would seem to recover some before it would break out again. And, he was sick. The poor little guy had a cold or something off and on (about once a month) since he was born. He is baby number five and the kids were off to school again and bringing home all sorts of wonderful germs that little newborns aren't accustomed to. And with every fair skin child (I have four of my five who are fair skinned) when they get sick, either during or just at the end they would break out in a mild rash. So, figuring out for sure what we were up against was not so cut and dry.

After returning from our Thanksgiving vacation, Jacob began to get noticeably worse. I knew that we were probably looking for a culprit. But I couldn't wrap my head around what it might be. Neither could Bob. After all, we'd kept things the same from when we figured things out with Peter (detergent and all that). But as the eczema continued to worsen, and spread, and the rash was more apparent and starting to get redder and raised, well, I knew something was up. I showed him to Bob and he said "Contact Dermetitis." Yeah, I know. It was everywhere except the diaper area and most aggrevated where the onesie was - the item of clothing that was closest to the skin ... and tightest. Detergent seemed the most likely culprit, but we hadn't changed detergents......or so we thought.

As I sat beside Bob, who was talking to his dad on the phone one night, I overheard him talking about Jacob and he mentioned using the same detergent. At that very moment something clicked. We actually weren't using the same detergent. We had been using ALL Free and Clear and one time at Costco noted that they had a Free and Clear and we figured it was basically the same. So we switched over. That happened just before our trip East. My mother uses ALL Free and Clear, so though irritated, it wasn't getting worse until we returned. It all made sense. So, we changed detergents, added the extra rinse (we were already using the vinegar) and thought we'd be okay.



Jacob was really sick over Christmas - and his body was horrible. His face was drying out terribly and his diapers weren't being very wet.... ever. By now his face was so dried out he looked a bit oriental (not to make fun, but we don't have any oriental blood in either of our ancestry) - his face was very dried out, cracked and oozing. I was still working with him at this point. I had tried oil baths, lotion scrubs and lanolin. The lanolin worked the best, but as dry as he was, it was having to be reapplied all the time.. and though it would keep the oozing under control, it wasn't adding or hold the moisture -so it seemed. And the oil and lotion baths were better, but not perfect.

Well, we got to the beginning of January. One morning I went to change Jacob to find his stomach was weeping. That was it. That went beyond anything I'd dealt with before - even with Peter - and I was done. It was time to see the doctor. Lanolin kept on the stomach with light water rinses and pat down dries kept the weeping under control and the next day we were in. The doctor gave us a prescription cream and instructions to just rinse his skin off and pat dry between applications just until he was clear. We also picked up a humidifier.


Lanolin on the hands and face with the humidifier following him around each room of the house and he looked plump and soft again! Changing the detergent to Ivory Snow and following the doctor's orders for the cream and rinse, the eczema cleared completely in two days. It was amazing. He was happy - he even played the entire morning on his stomach! I was so glad to have my little baby back! Happy and joyful!



But, alas, a week later he was broke out again. And from there until now we've been fighting the back and forth break outs - when it would flare up badly I would put cream on it before going to bed and he'd be better - not 100%, but better - by morning. He was still scratching and pulling at his face and as time went on it seemed that even the lanolin and the humidifier couldn't keep his face moist and clear any more.



AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

Okay.... take note of the rash.... yup, it's more rash than eczema patches..... and it's now starting into the diaper area. FOOD! UUUGGG! HERE WE GO AGAIN! THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES AND INCREASES!

Taking note of this, I started looking at the few foods Jacob was eating - rice, oatmeal, applesauce. He'd had sweet potato at my dads and some bread over Christmas, but that wasn't in his diet and hadn't been for the last month or so. They were not likely the culprits. And with the others, well, it seemed his breakouts would happen around the times he'd eat applesauce... fine, that's out. But really who's allergic to apples? So then it seemed maybe with the oatmeal... what the heck!?!?!?! Down to just rice and then I decided to forget other grains and go to veggies... carrots... yummy... the second time he had them he seemed to break out! Seriously!?!?!?!?!?

Actually, yes.... a carrot allergy goes along with an apple allergy and a whole huge long list.... oh, serious?!? What will the little guy ever eat?!?!?!

Okay, forget food. We'll go back to just nursing. At least then there is only one food journal to keep track of. Not only that, but generally speaking the food protein make up gets changed to be more digestible for babies when it gets made into mother's milk. Milk protein is the exception. And, of course, there are the random times when something in it will still pass through and be noted as an allergen in the baby's body. And it wasn't like the little guy was starving - he was still growing just fine, still healthy - except for his skin.

The hardest part... during all this he'd dropped down to waking every hour and a half to two hours - that was back in December. On the days he'd break out he would spend the night up and down nearly every 10 minutes!!!!!!!!! Tiring!!!!!!!!!! And he would want to nurse...although he wasn't eating. Of course, it hasn't helped that he's been teething during this whole ordeal! Who knows whats from what... but we were determined to find the underlying problem and fix it.

Chocolate.... apparently chocolate is a culprit... or so it would seem. Okay... deep breath.... I can do this... no chocolate! None... fine... valentine's candy was off limits and I made M&M cookies for the family with the family gift of M&Ms. I was off chocolate for a while, seemed to be helping, but wasn't certain... well, maybe one cookie.... next day, he was broke out again!!!!!!!!!! Okay, okay! I got the message! Let's get rid of nuts while we're at it... they're easy enough to give up.

In between I had a weird prompting when giving Jacob his bath. Instead of a drop of his soap to the water, just put in a few drops of olive oil and a couple teaspoons of baking soda. And I'd only wash him with soap once or twice a week.


He was doing better, but he'd still have mild break outs... what was up.... okay, we'll eliminate more foods... no uncooked or uncultured milk...... and then the day I decided I needed to eliminate milk and eggs.....

I was bathing Jacob and while he was soaking in water, I got out the laundry soap bar that I use for stains and started prepping the laundry that needed it. (It's a Kirk's Original Coco Bar with coconut oil.... completely safe, all natural, hypoallergenic and gentle enough for skin). I had a little on my fingers afterward, and I wasn't planning on a soap bath for Jacob that day - but cradle cap needs to be "shampooed" daily (or at least frequently), so I applied it to his head and then rinsed my fingers in the water. Lifted the plug, used the sprayer and rinsed him off. Added moisturizer to him (my homemade lotion specific for him) and watched as the day progressed.

By the afternoon, Jacob's cheeks were healed over. You could see the broken red marks underneath the new (closed) layer of skin, but it was clearing over the day too. And although you could still see the red marks underneath, his cheeks looked healthy. Not perfect, but healthy. They weren't cracked, they weren't weeping, and Jacob wasn't scratching and rubbing nearly as much (we had added socks to his hands to minimize the damage he could cause).

I was getting a little excited... I starting thinking back, connecting the dots. Jacob is allergic to something in the Aveeno baby wash!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!! It was the only one the others could use (not counting Beth who didn't have skin issues)!!!!!!!!!!!!

The hospital sent him home with Johnson's baby wash, but since my other kids had issues with that, I had switched over to Aveeno... but having not finished the Johnson's, on occasion I would grab that to wash him. And then because of the eczema, he wasn't washed daily - giving his skin time to readjust before being "attacked" again.

This is not to say that he's not allergic to something in the standard detergent... he is, it was the only time he got bad enough to weep. But it also explains why he was clear that one week of cream being applied and then started having issues again afterward. And why we were finding it traveling into the diaper area.

So, just water rinses for the last two days and moisturizer (his lotion) right after and he's looking amazing! He's not 100% better yet, but each day is closer....

I'm not ruling out food yet... though no more flare ups leads me to believe I can eat what I want... although I'll wait until next week to add chocolate just in case. And I'll still hold off until he's 8 months to reintroduce solids. And I think it's safe to say we're over the hump!

The Joy Of Language

Night time routine is up in the air... that goes along with the changes we keeping making to Jacob's life. Last night, after nursing at 1am for about 20 minutes, he fell asleep so I moved him back to his cradle. Crawled into bed and within two minutes he was up. He's been having a hard time transitioning from me to the cradle lately - with everything he's been going through, it's not really to be unexpected, just that it's annoying and hard at 1 in the morning!

Our routine - or trying to be routine - is to rock him in the cradle while singing to him. That would have been fine, except my voice wasn't working too well when I tried it last night... so I just rocked him. That was not enough and he continue to become more awake.

At one point I told him it was the middle of the night and that he needed to go back to sleep. Up until that point he's just been making noise.. you know, the fussing, crying sort... but then, he opened his eyes really wide and concentrating hard said:

"Ba...Ba...Blay!"

I nearly laughed right there... instead I said "no, it's not time to play, it's time to sleep."

My seven month old may not be doing the normal thing... crawling and rolling over and all that (he can roll over, he chooses not too, and he does go in circles and backwards, but he hates it)... but he does like to focus on his language.

Nearly a month ago he started saying Dad. Not DaDa like most little ones.. nope, he was clearly saying Dad. My favorite part of that was when we were at a baptism and our old bishop was up visiting. He sat behind me, so Jacob was interacting with him. Then he started saying "A Dad A Dad A Dad" He calls Bob "Dad or Daddy" but not DaDa. Gabi swears that she's heard him say Gabi and he even says GiGi (which means nothing except that a lady in our church who helps me with him in Relief Society is called GiGi by her family... apparently it's really not easy to make the Gi sound... never knew that). He's been saying "hi" for months now... exciting for Gabi as that was also her first word.

But whenever I try to get him to say MaMa he grins ear to ear and busts out in a huge, loud laugh.

He Does Listen

Sacrament Meeting....

I've always preferred our children to sit up and be reverent. That seems more difficult since being out here... granted, Peter hit the age where it's just difficult anyway and now we have the baby (who we all know likes to jabber at his own volume whenever he feels like it)... mostly, the kids do well. The older three tend to read the Friend Magazine, Peter gets a little bag of legos. He loves to build... and lately he builds planes.

So it comes as no surprise that in the middle of the talk about conversion and faith, that Peter would want to show me his "plane". But what I loved most was that the speaker was talking about experimenting and testing things out for ourselves. So what Peter said was:

"Hey mom! Look at my new plane!...... I'm testing it out!"

Yes, I smiled... because at least he was listening....... and he was trying to apply what he heard!

Cause for Reflection

This has been one of those week / weekends which have given me, once again, a reason to reflect. It started with preparing for the Sweetheart Ball... a dance and game night put on by our Elder's Quorum. To be honest, I thought it was a great idea, until I realized I was still dealing with issues with Jacob (I know, I've yet to post about all that yet). And with those issues, that meant we might have a good day or we might have a terrible one. We might have a somewhat reasonable schedule and sleep pattern, or we might wonder what storm hit and knocked us off balance. As I realized this, and the lack of sleep began to add up, I wasn't looking as forward to it.

I was hoping that maybe Jacob would be having a good day and then I'd be able to leave him without that constant motherly nag (I think that's worse than taking the baby with you on a date... at least for me). At the same time I became keenly aware that I really didn't have anything to wear - because, oddly, I felt that a Sweetheart Ball was a real reason to get dressed up for a date... I never get dressed up.... so my wardrobe is certainly lacking in that department. But, if it was a good week, I figured I could at least sew up a skirt... that left me wondering about a top (which, of course, was what I lacked most... something dressy that fit and worked with nursing).

My mother had helped me pick out fabric a long time ago... I think when Jeremy was a baby... that I would use make into something for myself. Of course, I kept putting it off thinking that I would get smaller when I was done having kids... needless to say, the fabric has been sitting on the bottom of my fabric stash for a long time. But, I dug some of it out the other day... let's just say the best I came up with was getting the skirt cut out... and maybe a blouse (which I altered along the way, so I have no idea if it will work out)... but seeing that it was an extra busy week with class parties and all, well, I finally just gave up at having it cut out and thought it was best to focus on some of the house and just come up with something else. I ended up wearing a skirt I made in college (without a pattern) one which seriously needs some alterations done to it... don't ask, it was an assignment... but it was pastel and it was something I hadn't worn in a long time... and no, I was am not as skinny as I was back then or I might have gotten away with wearing the fitted waist black silky skirt I made in college for choir... that, of course, is at least 5 inches too small (sounds better than saying I'm 5 inches too big!).

The night went well anyway, but I seriously wonder what's up with me. I don't "go out" well... I think I struggle ever since becoming a mom... I'm always thinking about the kids. I like the idea of going out... I really like the idea of going out and having a wonderful, peaceful, romantic time.... but, oh well.

Then I had an visit from a dear friend. Her relationship is a struggle, which made me think about my sister and the struggles she went through, and then my parents. I thought about myself and my husband and where we are today. And although I'm not the best "date" in town, I realized I have so much to be grateful for. I may not have had the cute outfit to wear, or the right state of mind, but I do have a great husband. None of us are perfect, we all struggle with many things, but what I love is that he and I are committed to making the best of our marriage and our family. Striving to work together to build a strong foundation for our children. Trying to become better. Earnestly working toward eternity... together.

And then there's today... our lesson was on the value of work. I was called a few nights ago and asked to prepare a little something to explain how we get our children to work. I nearly laughed out loud on the phone as it just so happened that the last couple of weeks I felt like I was pulling my hair out trying to convince my children that our chore system was still in place.

Yet in doing so, in preparing those few words, I learned something again. My children do really well compared to much of the world. We do not live on a farm or a ranch where constant vigilance to work ultimately determines how successful the entire family and farm and ranch are. Some times I wish we did - just so our children would have the experience. But our children are still learning the value of work. As they get better at their chores (yes, they are rewarded) I've seen (most of the time) that they start taking better care of their space. Having to go back and clean up a huge mess upsets them. Feeling like the mess is too big to complete in the necessary time frame discourages them. But because we work through it (together) and talk about how to make it better next time, I have seen (most of the time) that they are willing to pick up their dirty laundry and put it in the hamper, and to pick up the things they were just playing with. Sometimes with just a little reminder, and sometimes with no reminder. They love the acknowledgment and praise for making these right choices. And they especially love that chores go much faster and mean they can have free time when they've tidied up along the way.

No one likes work, but we all benefit from it. And we all acknowledge that we love a clean and organized space. We feel the spirit more fully and it frees us to be able to do more of the things we desire to do.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Many will think this is a lover's holiday. For me, it's a day like all the others. But a day which makes for reflecting upon what has brought us joy - the love we share with family and friends. The strength we gain from peace and comfort. It's a day we will celebrate, but we will also do chores. Because we grow closer to one another as we work together for a common goal. What better way to celebrate Valentine's then by doing those things that bring us close together and closer to eternity!?!

Front Page

Our newspaper - today's paper - actually arrives on Monday night. Bob loves this - the kids will go to bed, he'll run out and get the paper, and then he goes through it all. He loves to keep up with the news - locally, nationally, and, of course, back in dear ol' Maine! But even with that, he likes to go through the weeks Ads because the new ones start on Wednesday and the old ones end on Tuesday. That means he can decide if the price is better for the one set or the other before running off to buy whatever we need.

Last night he made his weekly trip out to the newspaper box. Upon coming inside, as he entered the living room flipping the paper out so he could see the whole thing, he started laughing. Obviously this meant someone made the front page... and that it was probably for a silly reason. So I had to ask.

It was.....


Wait for it.....


Wait for it....



JEREMY!

Cute as a button - with his groundhog.

Yes, I said groundhog. No he doesn't have a pet - although I'm sure he'd love one. His class each made a paper bag groundhog and throughout the day on Feb. 2nd they took them outside to see their shadows. And it was Jeremy, just Jeremy, who made the front page!

Well, good ol' Phil may not have seen his, but Jeremy's saw his shadow every time!

So yes... a grand, large picture of my sweet, cute boy right on the front page... and yes, for something rather silly! And you know what.... he's only 5 and already he's made a bigger headline than his daddy (who has been in lots of papers, but never the front page)! All for Groundhogs Day!

Now Peter Is 4

Peter was so excited to be having his party! He and I spent a day making invitations:


And then we made plans for a "pirate lunch"! He was so sure that he wanted to do it while the other kids were at school - which was just as well for me... keeps the chaos down!

They had pirate ship hot dogs - and believe it or not, I was planning on just making little black paper sails and it was Peter who said "we can just make them with cheese" - and how yummy was that! There were other hand goodies - fruit with dip and pretzels.

The played a couple of games... the first being walk the plank - where the chairs were lined up from the couch (the ship) and they jumped into a pile of blankets (the water). It was so funny to see some of them "flying" off the ship and laughing as they landed in the pile. And the next game was sink the ship where they had to stay in a boxed area and toss "cannon balls" - bean bags that Peter and I made earlier - for a set amount of time and then see who had the most in their ship. That lasted one round and they were done. I certainly mixed up the games.. I really should have done walk the plank last - I think they would have done that all day long!As for cake... nope... Peter wanted brownies! And you know what, I finally figured out how to make chewy, fudgy brownies! For real! I finally found the research that explains what to do to keep them from being cake like! Oh my goodness... so yummy! Just typing this makes me want to make more... the trick, fudgy brownies have no baking powder or baking soda, with denser ones having an extra egg (my recipe uses four eggs for a 9x13 pan) - that's just for the fudgy flavor... and to make them chewy - you know, lightly crusty on the top, but cooked through gooey-ness inside, the trick is to mix chocolates! I know, so crazy simple... but it works! If using cocoa powder, divide it up and use some chocolate chips too... using milk chocolate? use dark chocolate too... no it doesn't matter which combination - it's just a matter of two or more types of chocolate to make up the recipe's amount of chocolate. Try it... you'll be amazed!


Oh... anyway, now that my tangent is over.... Peter wanted brownies - specifically he wanted brownie sundaes, but he also wanted the volcano ice cream - so we made individual volcano ice cream brownie sundaes! Yummy!

Beth Turned 7

She started her day in near tears. "I don't think anything is going to be the way I want it to be for my birthday," was her concern. Oh dear....

This was an odd year for us with decisions...okay, odd for Beth. It's not usually hard for her to make party decisions, but this year seemed to be. She kept changing her mind and in the end specifically said that she didn't want a specific theme. In fact, she said "I think I want to do it like Matthew" (a friend of her's) "and just have games and fun." That worked for me!

She did decide on a cake - an ice cream cake really. I have this book from my mother which themes out parties and shows you how to sculpt ice cream in addition to making cakes and all that. Anyway, there was an ice cream castle in there she thought was great. No big deal - but she wanted to put chocolate cake in the middle of it. Okay... I think that still won't be too hard - and then, Bob brought home a tub of ice cream (we were doing two parties not just one) instead of the boxed stuff. "Will this work?" he asked... well, yeah, should be okay. Just meant more work for me.

But... it wasn't too bad. The hard part was making sure to freeze it enough in between. So really, I more or less frosted the cake with ice cream, built up towers with my food scoops and then just smoothed it out... tried to decorate some with left over butterflies (pretzels) and candies, but it was weeping so it had to be thrown back in the freezer and I was done.

But everyone loved it - it was pretty tasty too.... my favorite part was the comment from her friend Maddy "It's a Sandcastle!" with just excitement... and when I took a step back, I had to chuckle, but it really did look like a sandcastle! And best of all, Beth loved it!


Peter and I made her cupcakes for her class - butterflies. I'd seen some where online a picture of cupcakes using mini pretzels to make butterflies. Very cute. But how would it be dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with pink sugar? So that's what Peter and I were doing... and then we ran out of white chocolate - so we made half the batch in chocolate and the other half in white chocolate. They were cute on their "rose petal pink frosting" and everyone thought they were extra yummy - of course, when you make moist chocolate cupcakes with a yummy raspberry center, what's not to love!?!


Beth had a wonderful time after school on her birthday - many friends came up and they played hide and seek, limbo and musical chairs! That doesn't count the pile up on the tire swing. Those were the three games important to her and everyone was having such a good time that no one wanted to stop to open presents and eat ice cream and cake! That is until I told them there wouldn't be time to eat it if we didn't eat it then.

Her friends were very generous and received many exciting toys, bath joys (a scrubby and body wash), books and of course, her favorite, a gift certificate to the local book store... I still need to take her shopping!

When she went to bed that night, I asked her how her birthday turned out. "It was the best! It was perfect, Mom!" I'm glad. She deserved one perfect day.

January Birthdays

The last week of January is a very busy one - three birthdays within four days!

We started off with a family celebration for Grandpa Nielsen, Beth and Peter. It was worked into Family Home Evening - and the kids just couldn't wait! It was so funny!

Earlier I had Peter ask Grandpa what his favorite cake was - to which we learned Texas Sheet Cake (although maybe we asked what cake he wanted for his birthday). So, in true Tara fashion, sheet cake - in a layered circle! Yummy, soft, moist cake with raspberry gel sandwiched in the middle and very fudgy frosting covering the whole thing. The girls earned the privilege of decorating - it was chore day after all and they actually finished in time to take over that part - and so the entire cake was spotted with dark chocolate M&M! Very rich! Very Yummy!Finding candles was a little bit interesting. I've always let the kids pick out their candles for the party - but we had so many I didn't figure we needed to purchase any more. When it came down to it Peter wanted the number 4 and Beth wanted the number 7 - which I had the number 7, but not the number 4... apparently I should have thought that one through better because Grandpa claims he was 74 - so that would have been perfect.... oh well.Presents are always fun - kids love to get them and we love to see them open them. Such excitement! The money was a big hit - always is! We love books, and of course there is always something special - like the apron for Peter (he now has is very own... and wouldn't stop wearing it for three days straight)....

But my very favorite was when Peter opened Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen's gift and exclaimed "It's just want I always knew I wanted!" I just busted up saying "just wanted he never he always knew he wanted" see that he'd never so much as see or heard of his new loved building toys!

Duct Tape Day

One Spirit Day at school was Duct Tape Day.... oh how I dreaded this... just another thing... and blah... it's Duct Tape... and then, the day before, I remembered that Duct Tape came in different colors... a bit too late for this year, but I'm thinking I'll keep my eyes open and maybe pick up some here and there throughout the year to get ready for the next year's day....


Bob did, however, bring home three colors... Red, Yellow, and Blue... the primary colors! =) He made his own tie... he even wore it to church the Sunday following.


The girls made their own things.. each a belt and crown and with Bethie, she made a ring... and yes, they used gray.
And for Jeremy, well, I made him a little bow tie... he was so sure he was not going to be part of it all. The constant reminders of not to stick it on other people, not to stick it to yourself, or on your skin, and to sure that it's okay if you are covering up clothes because they might get ruined and so on had him really scared. I promised him the bow tie would not hurt him... and he was happy to have done it in the end... and, of course, everyone thought he was just the cutest thing!

Our Newest Sunbeam!

It doesn't seem possible that my little Peter - my little baby, sweet and snuggly who always insisted that I sing him the Hymns while he was falling asleep - is a Sunbeam! He's such a sweet boy - although a boy non the less... the very same one who likes to show people how strong he is by throwing things, the very same one who loves to take things apart because he's curious and it looks like fun....

He turned three last year and spent nearly the whole year as a three year old in Nursery... but that was okay. He LOVED his nursery teachers... and formed a very special bond with one in particular. It was hard for him to leave her, but he was so excited to be moving to the "big primary". The only sad part he had was that he wanted me (his mommy) to take him to class... I was not able to do that because I was home with a sick Jacob. That was hard for me too - he's my only Sunbeam that I haven't seen to his first Sunbeam class. But he had so much fun and had so much to tell me! He's a great Sunbeam!

The best part... since that Sunday when he went to his first Sunbeam class, the older children have included him more and treated him more like he's an "older kid". I chuckle a little about this - but I guess it's just another way to show that the mark of moving up to Sunbeams is a rite of passage... my little boy is indeed growing older!