Ember is One!

Ember had his first birthday last weekend. I really can't believe how big this boy has gotten over the last year and how much he has changed. It has been a long hard year for our family with moving and illness, but Ember has definitely made hard times filled with happy moments. I really can't remember what our family was like before he was here. He really does complete us.
A few statements about my little mister...
-He is the happiest baby you have ever met.
-He loves his family dearly.
-He never meets a stranger or misses an opportunity to flirt.
-He is truly upset when he sees one of us upset.
-He really tries to be helpful.
-Very laid back and easygoing.
-I am constantly asked, "Is he always this good?" to which the answer is always, "Yes."
-His nicknames are The Doctor and Mister.
-He can say the names of everyone in the family and a few other people also.
-Mommy is his favorite (maybe that is because I am writing this post).
-He seems to enjoy everything.
-He is smart and very observant.

For his birthday we took him to the corvette museum and Chaney's dairy barn in Bowling Green the day before. Then on Sunday, his actual birthday we had a spur of the moment party. I think most of the best moments in life are the ones that are unplanned. Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Cam wound up with a toy replica of this yellow one. He calls it 'my cool car.'

This motorcycle was parked outside of the museum. John really likes motorcycles and this one was really neat looking.

The ice cream and play ground shots were taken at Chaney's

Em LOVED this wagon, we decided we should get one. It would make the quarter mile trek to and from grandma's house just a pinch easier some days.

Before you enter the actually corvette museum. This white one is in the lobby for people to pose in. 

 New Toys! He got the getting on this one ok, but it took a while to get him to go down. He still isn't fully convinced that this is the intention of the toy.

The infamous first birthday messy cake photos

and last but not least, just letting him chill and play with his toys before bed.

Laundry For 6!

With the number in our family we have had piles of laundry up to eyeballs on more than one occasion. We have tried several different methods to keep up with it, and have had many different types of bins and contraptions. The problem with sorter bins is that they are way too small for our family size. We have tried sorting into several different baskets, takes up too much room. So, what do we do.

1. Well, my first tip on getting clothes clean and back where they belong is stop folding. I picked up this tip from Mandy over at Biblical Homemaking. Once you get over the initial shock, you'll probably realize as I did that folding clothes is a big time killer and a waste of time at that. One trip by your husband or 7 year old into that drawer of nicely folded shorts is going to turn it into one jumbled pile anyway. No one has ever seemed to noticed that my kids pants did not come from a neatly  folded stack. And trust me, my friends and family are the type to point it out. Not in the 'Oh look how sloppy' way, but in the, 'is everything ok, you need some help way.'

2. The washing. Each bedroom in our house has a basket. Only clothes that are stored in that room go into that basket. Each basket is done on separate days and I wash the whole basket before I begin sorting through the clean clothes. This makes putting away clothes much easier.

3. Putting things away. I separate clothes for drawers into piles and hang up shirts. With the exception of Anara's clothes, her clothing is usually hung up in outfits. A new room doesn't get started until the last room is put away. I throw in a load of towels as needed. I have a small basket sitting on top of the machine to separate out white clothes (I despise white clothing, so we don't have a lot of it!)

4. Socks. This one is a little trickier. No one in our house seems to be able to get many of their socks into their hamper, so when I do a load of towels I go around the house and collect socks. All clean socks go into this basket below which has a tendency to move around the house a bit. Each person also has a sock drawer or bucket in their room for socks that do make it into their dirty clothes basket. I do fold those socks as they come out (or I just throw them into the pink basket with the rest of the clean socks). The pink basket of socks gets folded together every 2 or 3 months, when there are just so many pairs of unmatched socks it takes over a minute to find a set. I highly encourage sandals in our house. I just recently matched socks in the pink basket, so I'm not planning to do it again until sandal season is over.

5. Products. We have made our own in the past and loved it, but my theme this year has been to do what saves me time. So, we use free and clear everything because it can be used for everyone and on everything. Our household cleaner (made from essential oils) makes the best pretreater ever. If it's not handy, I use detergent.

This is by no means fool proof, but it works for the most part for me. When my teenager wants to get out of doing her laundry, you'll find plenty of it in her little sister's basket and vice versa. This method does still seem to drive John a little nuts, but again it works for me.

A few photos

Hi folks, hope you have a great Easter! Here are a few of my favorite photos from the last few months. This first one was taken tonight. John took Nia and a friend to the see the new Captain America movie, so Anara and I decided to have a mommy daughter date here at home. I'm getting into a lot more photos now days since I upgraded my phone. Hello selfies!

I thought our nails turned out fairly fabulous, if I do say so myself.

Ember playing in the yard. This kid loves the wide open spaces. His siblings still haven't realized they may wander through the entire yard, but this kid sure has.

Anara reading to Cameron! It's really awesome how Cameron loves for Anara to read to him. She wouldn't have had the confidence to do this just a few months ago. I'm so proud of my girl!

Proud of herself and enjoying the rewards of the hard work that allowed her to finish her reading curriculum for the year.

Ahhh, sibling sharing. This scene may have only lasted 90 seconds, but I'm thrilled to have captured this sweet moment.

Anara finishing the last story in her reading curriculum for the year!

Look how big my baby boy is getting! Our table was filled with beautiful girls this day because of an extended spring break sleep over. Let me tell you, this little mister is a serious flirt and was in heaven for the 4 day span our house was filled with these lovely ladies... and he really likes mommy's spaghetti squash and peas to boot.

I love my geeky girl! The irony of this photo is that the movie being advertised (The Nightmare Before Christmas) on the shirt (one of her favorites) she is wearing is the first movie I saw in theaters without an adult present.

Anara is always willing to pose for a selfie with mommy! She is my biggest cuddle bug lately. This is new role for her, it the past she was more of a long hug, but no extended cuddles type of girl. I have to say, I'm liking the new role.

No one ever realizes that Cam's curls actually do come from John because John does his hair daily. With this pic, there is no denying what gene pool those lovely locks are derived from.

The number of day's that I get to cuddle with Em as he nurses his bottle are quickly disappearing. I've always made sure he was being held while eating. My logic is that milk glands are attached high up on our bodies so that we must hold babies while they eats, or maybe that's just my excuse to constantly hold my babies. At any rate, with Ember almost off his bottle I ALWAYS make sure I am the one that gets to hold him while he is eating. I love, Love, LOVE these moments! That scratch under his eye happened when his brother hugged him. We have no idea what caused the scratch. We searched high and low for the offending item with no luck.

My Cammie boy sleeping on mommy. Ya' know this guy has slept on me more than all three of the others combined. As you can tell by the photo, I'm absolutely loving it! So, I may have lost countless nights of sleep with this guy. I cherish every one of them. Cam is a total daddy's boy, but when it comes to anything sleep related, he want's his mommy.

A selfie John took when he stole my phone on a date night.

Cameron's first selfie! He posed and everything. You have to give it to him, this kid has swagger!

John, and I took Ann to the doctor one Saturday Morning for a back injury she incurred while trying to sled while standing up.

I thought this was the cutest little scene. Ok, so maybe I should have been mad that Cam dumped out all of my buttons and was at my sewing desk in general (he knows it's off limits), but this was soooo adorable I couldn't do anything but smile. Just some sore and bruised muscles, all is well.

I have never seen this much snow in our town. ever. in. my. life. I have never seen anyone sled in our town. I knew one kid growing up that owned snow boots, she had moved here from Alaska. So, I really didn't think these boots that had been purchased on clearance at the end of the season last year in Ohio would get any use when we decided to move nor would this sled Anara insisted we keep. Well, I was wrong. The property our house sits one has a perfect little sledding hill also. I thought this picture captured my little Anara's personality perfectly!

This one is from our last trip to Cincinnati. Cam and I broke away from the rest of the family for a little while and he really enjoyed his play time with these frogs at the Newport Aquarium. 

My little Mister learning how to cruise around the couch.

... and walking with his big sister.

This was my birthday hug!

Little boys always want to be like daddy!

Some Answers!

I had a very good doctor's appointment today! Through very valued opinions I received from friends and people that read my blog and by a little research I have done, I came up with about half a dozen things all or several of my symptoms could point to (you can read about that here). My regular doctor was able to eliminate all but two of them through some of the many test that have been run on me over the last few months. What I was left with on that list are premenstrual dysphoric disorder (also called PMDD) and a handful of different types of migraines including Menstruation Related Migrans. Since the only possibilities from my findings that were left were menstruation related, I was sent to a gynecologist that agreed all my symptoms could very well be caused by a hormonal issue and we have a plan to get things set straight. I still have appointments with other specialist, but I really feel like we are on the right track.

Ahhh, Alone Time

So it's almost midnight and I only get a few minutes of it, but I LOVE my alone time. John is out picking up Nia from a girls night with the church youth group and the other children are asleep. Alone time is a precious commodity around this house and I actually think I'm the only person in our family that seems to need or want alone time. When I steal away a few moments to myself, I'm generally quizzed with questions like 'what's wrong?' and 'is everything ok?'

I grew up as an only child so until I had my own first child I got as much alone time as person would need. It wasn't until about 5 or 6 years ago that I even began to use the phrase 'alone time' or realize that I needed it. It was at this time that time when I began to have less of it. I had just become a full time stay-at-home mom, and shortly after started homeschooling our oldest daughter. Threw the last few years I've tried different ways to squeeze it into the daily routine, but it just doesn't generally workout the way I envision it in my head. I have been known to hide in the car with a book on occasion, but someone always comes to the garage looking for me asking if I'm ok.

Before family life, I was that person that would eat in restaurants or go to movies all by myself. I absolutely love to shop, but not with other people... I don't see the point in shopping with other people. I know shopping in small groups is a time honored girl tradition, but I just don't get it.

So, what you do to get in a pinch of alone time?

Back To The Hospital

I started to write this post from my room at a sleep clinic after being released from the hospital that morning. I woke up Sunday feeling like poop and with blue lips. John's response to my blue lips were, "We are going to the emergency room." I didn't argue or resist, even I realize that a person shouldn't have blue lips. After being put into a little curtained room at the ER, my husband told my nurse I had passed out the night before. I hadn't even realized I had done this. Later I found out that he and Nia have been observing me blacking out for a few seconds at a time since December. What! Why haven't I realized I have losing seconds at a time for last 3 months?

So, lets have a little recap for people that don't generally read my blog. In December I was hospitalized for passing out, my blood pressure and pulse rate erratically and quickly going high and low, being absolutely exhausted (unable to get out of bed exhausted), being incoherent, and dizziness. This wasn't something totally new, I have had it happen before. Several times actually in the last 5 years. Before when it happened, I was always pregnant (in the last 5 years I have given birth to 2 amazing little boys and have had 2 miscarriages). I was always told it was just one of those weird pregnancy things and would go away when I was no longer pregnant. It has never been constant. It will go away for weeks or months and when it comes back may last a few seconds or (like in December) a few weeks. I am not however pregnant now (I was not pregnant in December nor have I been that way since) and since December I've had more time feeling crummy than feeling normal. In January my primary care physician (a new doctor for me because of moving in the fall) told me my blood pressure and heart rate issues are being caused by the muscles in my heart spasming, which is caused by fibromyalgia (I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 7 years ago). The good news is I finally have a doctor that realizes my fibromyalgia is key in figuring out my health. However, I don't know what to do about what's going on. I can't do many normal, everyday things if I'm prone to passing out at the drop of a hat. Not being able to safely pick up my baby or drive kind of puts a huge damper on my life.

Where are we at now. With the blue lips and blacking out, the doctors are thinking this might be more than a little fibromyalgia flare up. While in the hospital I had every possible test known to man run on my heart. Everything with my heart looks great. A cat scan was run to check for bleeding in my brain. Cat scan looked fabulous. I didn't leave the hospital feeling any better or with any answers again this time, but I did leave with a very distinct plan from my doctor. This is good, it's not something we have had when leaving the hospital before. Also, no one is trying to explain it away with the excuse of pregnancy. What's the plan? Well, my doctor wants to see what the results of the sleep test look like and is considering referring me to a neurologist. Depending on how that goes we will then look at the endocrine system. These test are expensive, time consuming, and not fun. So instead of doing them all at once, we are going system by system. Putting the most important systems for life at the top of the list.

I'm putting a complete list of my symptoms below. If anyone has a clue or slight feeling at what's going on with me, I would love to hear from you.

None of the following are present all of the time, I go weeks without any of them.
-Dizziness
-Vision: sometimes I see spots or a halo around my vision field
-Shaking
-Poor gate: I feel like I'm about to fall over
-Pulse and blood pressure jumps around
-Irregular heartbeat- this is almost always present
-Headache
-Light headed
-Memory loss/confusion
-Blacking out
-Extreme exhaustion
-About once a month I have a night of insomnia
-Crankiness: I get really grouchy when I'm not feeling well
-Mood swings: also when not feeling well
-Numbness on one side of face

-For the last 5 or 6 months everything has gotten a lot worse about 5 or 6 days before my period starts. January and February the symptoms lasted 2 days and then diminished. I might mention here this is when my periods seem to have become regular again after having Ember in May.
-I always have these symptoms just before catching any other kind of illness. Example: If my entire family catches a stomach virus. The day before I feel any effects of the stomach virus, I have most if not all of the above symptoms. This has always been worse than the actual illness that follows.

I'm home now and I've experienced all of the symptoms for most of the day. They are not as bad today though.

Heart Update

The 2nd of January I was told my heart issues were caused by my fibromyalgia. I have muscle spasms in the muscles surrounding my heart that cause my blood pressure and heart rate to bounce around like a yo-yo. It makes me feel like a zombie when it’s happening. It comes and goes. Sometimes it last a few minutes, sometimes days. In December it lasted for 3 straight weeks. I can go several weeks without any issues then bam, I'm down for the count. I've know for 2 1/2 months what is causing me to feel so horrible, but my doctor has yet to tell me how to get relief from the issue, or hinted at any plan. My first visit about the issue I was told to get back onto my vitamins (I was taken off of them by a doctor when I was hospitalized in December) that I take to help control my fibromyalgia. I did, and the muscle spasms got better after a few days back on my vitamins, but only stayed that way for a few days. Since they come and go anyway, I'm not thinking the vitamins have much effect the vitamins have at all. I haven't been handling being sick very well at all. I get really, really depressed the first day of it and continue to be depressed until I'm well again. I’m grouch and not nice at all to anyone. Then I’m depressed for not being nice, even once I'm better this still really bothers me. When I do feel well, I live in complete fear that I will trigger something that makes my heart spasm. I have another doctor’s appointment this coming week, I pray I can get some relief.

update on March 17, 2014: So, I spent last night in the hospital... again. I was there for about 30 hours and have been told they have now run every test on my heart they can and my heart is fine. I'll write a new post telling a little more about the visit.

Things I Recommend For Toddlers...

I will start by saying I have not been paid or am I affiliated with any of the below listed products or their companies. They are just things I like and thought you might also.

First up is the app Endless Alphabet which can be found here. The price is $6.99.

It is a rarity that I would recommend an app, especially one for a toddler. It is also an extreme rarity that I would pay 7 bucks for an app. In the 5 years our family has owned an iPad, I can remember exactly 4 apps that have cost this much or more that we have purchased. However, after playing this app for a couple of weeks, Cameron (age 2), has begun sounding out words that he encounters without prompting. Yes folks, this app has gotten my 2 year old to start reading words. Not by memorizing the shape of the word, but by using phonics. He hasn't picked up a book and tried to read it or anything that crazy, but if there is something he sees with a label on it that he wants, he has been sounding it out so he can tell us he wants it. He has done 5 words outside of the ones in the app so far for me.

And the next item is a Mommy's Helper Step Up potty seat found here on amazon for $23.45.

This has made not only potty time easier for us, but maneuvering in our small bathroom much less hazardous. It folds up, leans against the wall, and takes up much less space than a step stool and potty seat combo or the traditional little potty seat. The handles give Cameron a sense of stability. I would always have to help him hop down to his stool with the seat we had before this one. One warning though, you have to get it on properly. Notice in the picture above how the toilet seat is raised, if you don't do this the child seat can slip off with the child on it. Nothing worse than falling half naked from a any height when there is pee or poo involve. I would think that could be a definite potty training set back. 

And my final item is The First Years Insulated Sippy Cup found here 2 for $6.99.

These aren't the absolute best for not leaking, but I really haven't found a sippy cup that doesn't leak some. I like these because there are no valves. I HATE things with many pieces. I think when a house gets a certain number of people living in it, pieces just never seem to stay with their corresponding pieces. Since we are a family of 6, I think we have exceeded that number. If I manage to keep up with valves to sippy cups, I frankly get really annoyed by them either wearing out or by the extra time it takes getting them properly into their holes. I will only be buying this variety of sippy cup from now on.

My Recent Hospital Visit

Last month I spent a little time in the hospital. I was admitted after going to the E.R. for chest pains and a rapidly fluctuating blood pressure, along with dizziness, blackouts, and memory loss. After a zillion test came back normal and seeing several doctors, I was sent home and told to stop taking my vitamins until I was able to follow up with a primary care physician. I got home and felt worse and worse.
So, what was going on...
When I finally got in to see a primary care physician (I hadn't chosen one since moving in the fall), he thankfully knew exactly what was going on. In a nutshell, I was having a fibromyalgia flare up in the form of muscle spasms in the muscles that surround my heart.
The longer explanation:
I have fibromyalgia (this is not new, I've had it for a long time). People with fibromyalgia do not process nutrients properly and their bodies over react to things that their bodies sense as toxic. I take vitamins and avoid certain things to manage this. The muscle spasms started because I didn't have enough of somethings (vitamin and mineral type things) and a toxin was introduce to my system. The rest of the symptoms were either caused by the muscle spasms or what was causing the muscle spasms. I didn't realize this was a fibromyalgia flare up because I usually have an immense amount of pain when I have a flare up. Other than the chest pain, I wasn't having any pain at all. When I stopped taking my vitamins my symptoms got worse because I was becoming more and more depleted of the vitamins that were already low.
The treatment for all this was to go back on my vitamins. Yesterday, I had been home from the hospital for exactly one month and I'm happy to report it was the first day I felt like a fully functioning human again.

Getting There

I've lost 10 pounds!! So I still have about 10 to go before I am the weight I was when we moved back to our hometown just months ago, then what feels like a billion more before I hit my goal weight, but it's a start. A good start actually. The first 5 happened after leaving my brief hospital stay last month. I wasn't 'trying' very hard then, just kind of watching what I was eating more. This last week I have really been working at it. I Picked up the LoseIt app (this is not a paid advertisement) and I have to tell ya, it's really been a God send. I've watched my mom do a thousand diets that I know I could NEVER keep up with. I personally did L.A. Weight Lose many years ago and found it to be horrifically challenging and expensive to do everything the right way. I've tried counting carbs and a handful of fad diets in the past. This seems much easier than any of that. Although I'm just in my first week of using it, so it could be new diet euphoria going on at this point.

About lose it... Basically, you enter your height, weight, and sex and it tells you how many calories to eat to lose 1 or 2 pounds a week or remain at the same weight. You log what you eat and when you exercise and the app does the counting for you. 

A Family Resolution

I'm not generally someone that is into making New Year resolutions, however this year John and I decided to make one (a really big one actually) for the whole family. We are changing the way we eat and making it a definite priority to get active. So what exactly are we changing...

We have decided to only eat 'real food' for starters. If you're not familiar with the term, here is a great blog post on how to explain it to kids. I think it is also a great way to explain it to adults. Basically, eating real food is totally passing up food dyes, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils,  fast food, and unnatural preservatives. Also, eat minimum amounts of food with with white flour, sugar, and rice. We are adding anything deep fried and pork to the list of things to totally avoid. So what does that leave us... fruits, vegetables, whole grains (including nuts and beans), lean meats, and seafood. John and I are also using the app/web site lose it. We are also doing work out videos and planning to purchase an elliptical machine. We are looking at this one.

Why are we doing it...

For starters, we probably were eating a little healthier than many families out there. Well, until we moved back home (to our hometown in KY). There are several factors here that have contributed to our nutrition falling into a downward spiral these last few months, but here are the top excuses I can think of: we have been busier than ever before, eating out is a little cheaper here, our parents are here and take us out to eat regularly, our parents also frequently bring yummy junk food to the house, the girls have outgrown their gluten issues (making up for lost time on those gluten loaded goodies), and southern baptist don't seem to do anything without food. We went to a Vineyard church in Columbus, Church met 1/4 as often and food was a special event type of thing. Baptist meet much more often, for longer periods, and there is almost always food.

Adding to this is the fact that we are barely moving. I guess all of those steps between parking lots/garages and buildings that are kind of far away add up. In small towns, parking is right next to the door just about everywhere you go. There was also walking to get the mail, walking to take trash out, well you get the picture. We have a great yard, but the kids don't seem to know what to do with themselves off of a sidewalk (we are working on this one). So, we are making it a point to move, move, move!

Another big motivator has been a few recent issues with my heart. Heart issues are not new to me, they have just changed a bit here recently. Healthier lifestyle + lower weight = healthier heart for this momma. We are not exactly sure what is going on at this point, I had a brief hospital stay just before Christmas. I have a doctor's appointment is in about 14 hours, prayers for answers and a quick and easy treatment are welcome.

Water Science

This is a super simple science experiment with very few materials.

supplies needed

two paper towels or thin cloth napkins

3 similar glasses

water

2 colors of food dye

1. First fill with equal amounts of water into 2 of the glasses. 

2. Add different colors of dye to each of those glasses

3. Arrange the glasses (as above) with the 2 liquid filled glasses on the sides of the empty glass.

4. Fold up each paper towel or napkin to make kind of a string to join each liquid filled glass to the empty glass.

5. Watch what happens.

Up to the picture above this project went fairly quickly. Well, within a few minutes at least. This is where the girls and I kind of lost interest and wandered off. A few hours later (when I went back into the kitchen to make dinner), I noticed all the water levels were equal.