Spring?!

It started snowing yesterday morning, and they were issuing a "winter storm warning". Well, it turned into a blizzard, and this is what we woke up to this morning!! Schools are cancelled, highways are closed, and we aren't going ANYWHERE today! It is supposed to be Spring........isn't it?!

New name and New look :)

You have probably noticed that I have changed my blog name, and changed the look a bit ;)

I was going to write a post about the way people I know are questioning my decision to homeschool, and how one of the only "cons" I can come up with is the fact that I don't like feeling "different".

But then I realized, we ARE different.

• I had my first baby as a single mother at the age of 19 - Not exactly typical.
• Almost 5 years later, Gairod and I had triplets - Again, NOT typical!
• We then decided to have another baby, which would bring us up to 5 kids - Not typical.
• And we have decided that I am going to homeschool the kids next year - Not typical.

So, as you can see, we are NOT a typical family.

To be honest, I quite often forget that we aren't typical, and it sometimes bugs me when people stop us, and ask us a million questions, like we are a freak show or something!

But I have come to realize that we ARE different, and we are happy and proud to be who we are! :)

Hoarders.

Have you ever seen the show "Hoarders"? It's like watching a bad car accident - sickening to watch, yet you can't seem to look away!

That show disgusts me. I don't understand how people can live that way! BUT in some ways, I CAN empathise with them. Sometimes, when you don't know what to do, it seems easier to do nothing.

I feel like I have SO much to go through, organize, and de-clutter. I don't even know where to start. Part of the problem is that I don't have a few straight, solid hours, to devote to ANYTHING. I can do 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there. I am constantly being interrupted by someone who needs some water or a snack, someone else who is fighting with someone, a baby who needs to be fed, etc. Let's face it - I'm lucky if I can manage to sneak into the bathroom to go pee without being interrupted! lol!

So I am trying to figure out how/when I can get some more de-cluttering done! I would like to try to devote an hour each evening to it, but I am just SO exhausted by the end of the day, that I don't know if I can do it!

My goal is to get TONS of stuff cleared out of the house. I want everything stream-lined and simplified. Less stuff = Less mess = Less stress!

If anyone has any suggestions of how I can find more time to de-clutter, I would love to hear them! :)

Hair.

Sage has the most interesting hair out of all the kids! lol!

She was born with a thick head of DARK hair - darker than any of our other kids! Then it all started to fall out when she was a few months old! It finally stopped falling out (when she was almost bald!), and quickly started to grow back in. BUT the hair that is growing back in, is WAY lighter than the hair she was born with!!

I am excited to see what color it actually is, when it fills in a bit more. I think it will be a lighter brown, but depending on the light, it almost looks a bit strawberry-blond! ♥

Then

Now

Moving on.....

I have decided to stop driving myself crazy trying to diagnose Sage. I am just going to keep her away from milk products for now, and keep trying to introduce new foods to her. She tried sweet potatoes a couple days ago, and seems to LOVE them! Yay!

I have enough stress in my life without adding in a bunch of "what if's". So I am just going to take things as they come, and not stress or worry about what might or might not be.

RAST results.

I haven't blogged about Sage's RAST results yet, because I am frustrated, and a bit concerned.

Sage's RAST test for milk came back negative. That can mean one of many things. It could be a false negative, which I have been told is common with babies. It could mean that she doesn't have a milk protein allergy, but could be lactose intolerant.

The thing that is concerning me, is that she could have FPIES. Instead of trying to explain what FPIES is, you can read about it here. Sage's "episodes" of vomiting, seem to be classic FPIES symptoms. BUT, like I said, it could also be any number of other things.

So basically, I am driving myself crazy trying to figure this out. I hate the not knowing. If I know what exacting is wrong, I can learn how to deal with it. When I don't know, I feel like I am driving in a foreign country without a map.

I am thinking that maybe I should push my doctor for a referral to an allergist. I don't know........

Time for some weight loss!!

***WARNING*** If you are tired of hearing me talk about how much I need to lose weight, and then doing nothing about it, you might want to skip this post! ;)

Okay, I SERIOUSLY need to lose some weight! I am at my highest non-pregnant weight ever, and I hate it. Starting today, I have GOT to start eating healthy. I would like to lose 30lbs in the next 4 months. That takes me to the end of August, when I would like to start trying to conceive. If I can lose 30lbs by then, I will be at the start weight I was for my pregnancy with Sage. I still need to lose more than that, but this is my goal for now.

Progress :)

I am finally making some progress on feeding Sage solids! I decided to give up on cereal for now, and try her on some fruits and veggies. She has now had squash and pears. For the first few days it was still a struggle to get her to eat them, she would eat a couple of bites, and then clam up, not wanting anymore. Finally yesterday she started to get a bit better, and today she did really well! :)

On Monday I get to find out the results of her RAST test.

Breakthrough!!!!

So, as you all know, I want one more baby. Gairod has not agreed yet, so I literally talk about it EVERY day, SEVERAL times a day, to keep him thinking about it, and make him realize that I am serious.

A buddy of Gairod's is bear hunting this Spring. Gairod started talking about going with him several months ago. I said that is fine, but if you go bear hunting, we are having another baby!

Today, Gairod's buddy called, and said that they are going up to the property this weekend, and wanted to know if Gairod wanted to go with them. So Gairod asked me, and I said "sure - but you know our deal, if you go, we are having another baby!" He thought about it for a minute, and then said, "If we have another baby, we'll need to get a bigger boat, ours only fits 7" I said "our boat will be fine for now" He said "I'll have to leave you home and just take all the kids fishing then." I said "HAHA! No problem!! I would LOVE to stay home by myself while you take all the kids fishing!" lol! Then he thought for another minute and said "If we try for another baby, we aren't going on any fertility drugs!" I said "that is fine, we will just try naturally." I also told him that I don't want to try right now, (not that it's even possible right now!) but I want to start trying in August, so that Sage will hopefully be around 2 when the new baby is born.

We kind of left it at that. He said we will talk about it more in August, (but you know I will keep talking about it every day! lol!) and I said he can't just say that, and then get to August and say "no".

So to me, this is a MAJOR breakthrough, since up until now, he has just been saying "no", and now he is at least willing to talk about it!!! That makes me SO happy! :)

Jade's New Hair!

Jade got her hair cut tonight! Of course, I didn't think to take a "before" picture, so this one from Easter morning will have to do! lol! She has been begging for shorter hair and bangs for a while now, so I finally gave in and let her get it done. It's only hair, right?!

Before

After

Sage's Doctor appointment.

Sage had her doctor appointment today, to talk about a possible allergy. The doctor said, based on what I told him had happened, and by looking at the different ingredients in the cereals (I brought them to show him), it most likely is a milk protein allergy. I convinced him to send her for a RAST blood test, even though he said it *might* come back negative, even though she is reacting to it.

So he basically said to just keep her away from all milk products for now. When she gets to a year (the time you usually switch to milk), we should try regular homo milk first, and see if she reacts. If she does, we should try a lactose free milk. If she still reacts, then we should try a soy milk.

This is all so new to me! I have never had to deal with allergies before. I guess I will learn as we go along!

Life.

Today is my 27th birthday. Coincidentally, I have really been contemplating life lately.

***Warning: This is a totally random post. I am just expressing some stuff I have been thinking about, but please feel free to comment with your perspective - if you want! :) ***

Why does life have to be so complicated?

Back in the day (and when I say this, I mean WAY before my time!), life was simple. I'm talking "Little House on the Prairie" times. People got up when the sun came up. The men worked the fields and did the outside chores, and women worked in the home, cooking, cleaning, and looking after the children. The children spent their days playing, doing chores, and learning valuable life skills. At the end of a long day, they would all gather 'round the dinner table, to a nice home-cooked meal. They spent time together as a family in the evening, singing songs, and telling stories, and then they went to bed.

Fast forward to now. Dad's up early, and heads off to work. Mom's gets up early, gets the older kids off to school, the younger kids to daycare, and heads to work herself.

After school, the older kids have various sports and activities, have a quick supper, spend the rest of the evening doing homework, and go to bed way too late. The younger kids get picked up from daycare at dinner time, and usually have take out, or a quick dinner of frozen chicken fingers and fries. They get bathed and put to bed, barely seeing their parents all day. Dad gets home late, and plops in front of the tv or computer, exhausted after a long day. Mom finishes getting everything done for the evening, then she sits in front of a different tv or computer. Eventually they both go to bed, and after a few short hours of sleep, they start it all again the next day.

Now I know that not EVERY family is like this, but a lot are. We have become a very materialistic, success-driven society. We have to have the highest paying (longest hours) job. Our kids have to have the best of everything, anything they want, and be involved in every activity. Why? Why is life no longer simple?

I am not naive. I know that life "back then" wasn't all "Little House on the Parairie-ish". But it was a lot simpler.

Why do we have to have the best of everything? Why do we care what other people think? Does any of it matter in the end? We can't take any of it with us, so why do we spend our lives trying to acquire stuff?

Sometimes, I wish we could just pick up and move out to the middle of nowhere. We could plant a huge garden, and have a few animals - provide for ourselves. We could homeschool, and spend time together as a family.

Our children grow up SO fast. Why do we try to rush through it? When my kids grow up, what will they remember about their childhood? Will they have happy memories?

Two little teeth :)

Are these not the two cutest teeth ever?!?! LOL!

Yesterday and today, I have tried unsuccessfully to get Sage to eat her new rice cereal. I really can't blame her - It would be like someone telling you to eat pizza the day after you puked up pizza - Gross! :(
So I am going to give her the weekend off, and then try again on Monday, the same day as her doctor appointment.

I just want to know what the problem is. I hate the not knowing part :(

Hmmmm....***UPDATE***

I talked to a friend who has lots of experience with allergies, and she said that when a baby seems to be allergic to rice cereal, they are much more likely to be allergic to something else that is IN the rice cereal, such a milk. So I looked at the ingredients, and sure enough, the second ingredient is dry skim milk.

SO, I popped out to the store this afternoon, and I found some organic rice cereal that DOESN'T have milk in it. I will try to feed it to Sage tomorrow (IF she will eat it!), and see how she does. If she does okay with it, then it is likely to be a milk problem, as opposed to a rice problem.

I will update tomorrow :)

Hmmmm......

Sage was puking again. She finally ate some rice cereal this morning. The last time she ate rice cereal, she was puking.

Does anyone else see the coincidence???

I am now freaking out, and thinking she might be allergic to rice cereal. It just seems like too much of a coincidence that she has been ill a few hours after having rice cereal, the last two times she actually ate it.

This is how her cereal experience has gone: At 5 months I tried her on rice cereal. She didn't seem to like it, so I sporadically tried it for a couple weeks. At about 5.5 months, she all of a sudden seemed to like it, and ate it every day for about a week. Then she got sick with her chest infection, so I stopped feeding rice cereal to her, since she was so congested. About a week and a half later, I fed her rice cereal again, shortly before she went to bed. A few hours later, she woke up puking. (see this post) She puked several times in about an hour, and then was okay. I didn't try to feed her cereal the next day, but for a few days after that I tried, and she wasn't interested. So again I took about a week off. This morning I decided to try her on cereal again. She ate it okay, and then went down for about an hour long nap. Shortly after she got up, she started puking. She puked several times in about an hour, and has been fine for the rest of the day.

I called this afternoon and booked Sage a doctor appointment for Monday. I have never dealt with food allergies before, but I am quite sure this HAS to be somehow relate to the food :(

Happy Easter!

Easter morning the kids got up and opened their Easter baskets. I tried to make sure that I DIDN'T go overboard this year with candy, since I knew they would be getting a bunch more from Gairod's mom!

We then got ready to go, and went to Kody and Kim's house for brunch. The kids did their egg hunt, we ate, and then they broke open their pinata!

Later in the afternoon, we went to my Aunt Heather and Uncle Dave's house for dinner.

All in all, we had a great Easter! :)