Poor Me post 2

So it is Tuesday morning and I am using my oh so not useful meditating skills to try to keep from scratching my arms, legs, torso. This is day 11 of the Poison Ivy fiasco of 09. I thought last week, I could not be anymore miserable...that will teach me to make a challenge to the misery monsters! Saturday I was so frustrated because I was seemingly becoming one large patch of poison ivy itchiness. So I called around to a few friends who have experienced this lovely itchiness and took suggestions for topical creams to help....as I discovered last week hydrocordisone and calamine--not helpful. So I got Benadryl cream and a neat little menthol enhanced number called stop ivy or some other clever name. I decided to try the stop ivy first. It said it worked on contact. If working on contact means that you smell as if you took a bath in Vick's vaper rub and that your arms would feel like they stop itching only because they were now burning...then well it worked. However, if you were looking for something to sooth the itch...not so much. Wait three hours. Now I am going to try the Benadryl cream. I ooze it out and onto my arms. Feels good. But what is this? My arms, fingers, hands, and ears are swelling and burning. I am now covered from head to toe is hives (which are causing my itching to itch.) My wrists are so swolen my hands look like barbie hands attached to Cabbage Patch Kid arms. You know how if your skin gets stretched really far out, it sort of itches. It is the triple whammy of poison ivy, stretch swolen skin and hives!! Sunday morning I insist Nate take me to urgent care. I am the fifth person in that morning with Poison Ivy issues (it is 9:00 a.m.)

When I finally get back to see the doctor she states, you have the worst case of poison ivy I have seen all year--me and my overacheiving ways!--and thinks that I not only am having an allergic reaction (she is not sure if it is to the antihistamine creams or the toxins of the ivy), but that I have earned a notable infection in all this mess. So one shot in the buttocks, a rx for an antihistamine, a steroid treatment, and amoxicillan and I am out the door. Nate brings me home and then is off to the pharmacy and Walmart to get replacement pillows (Could have ivy oil on them--not taking chances!) and the rx. Once he is home I pop all the pills one at a time in 15 minute increments. I am still a bit worried about antihistamine being the reason for the allergy break out. I start with the rx antihistamine...sure enough within 20 minutes I am swollen even more, my face is a lovely purple color, I am covered with even more hives and I am ready to just peel off my own skin.

After a call to the doctor, I am advised not to take anymore antihistamine (ya think?) and to just stick with the steroids and the antibiotic.

So there you go...a happy memorial day weekend! I am feeling about 80% better today. Not having the hives and swelling gets me back to what I thought was jusy plain miserable last week, the ivy itching. THe steroids are drying out the patches so I feel like I am going to be back to normal in the next few days.

I asked Nate if I could get a pass on all things yardwork for the rest of the year? He just laughed and said, "Yeah right." I am taking that as a NO.

Leaves of three.....let it be.....may that be your mantra!

Investments in smiles

Yesterday we spent the better part of the morning getting expanders and braces fitted into the mouths of the Professor and my Pigeon. They handled the process fairly well, they are sore still today, but better than last night. They will have the expanders for six months. The braces I think will be on a bit longer. This is phase one of their Orthodontal treatments. They most likely will have full braces on when they hit about 12. Both children seem to have gotten the small umbiture of my mouth and Nathan's large teeth. Having lost baby teeth, the adult teeth just have no place to come in at. This is making a mess of their teeth, their gums, and ultimately those amazing smiles.

I was thinking yesterday as I was writing that fat check to the office manager, that in terms of value, I will over a lifetime be paying fractions of a penny for each smile they use. Not a bad investment.

Going through this process, I have however learned a ton about medical/dental offices. I think it has really changed my thinking A LOT! These thought processes started changing after the Profressor's surgery last year. He was drugged and being wheeled away by complete and total strangers. I thought to my self then, where else would I allowed my child to be drugged and taken away with total strangers--NO WHERE!
All medical and dental care can have a profound effect on the safety and long term well being of my child. So a list of things I have started to use in choosing care.

1. This is by no means the most important thing, but shopping for doctors is very important. In determining what Orthodontist to use, I shopped prices and procedures. There was more than a $1000 difference per kid for care between multiple doctors. I was blown away by this! Insurance will pay for reasonable and customary fees...in some offices there were Otis Spunkmeyer cookies being cooked on site, others had video games and flat screen tvs to keep your kids occupied. You are paying for that stuff--not better care!

2. Interviewing the doctor and getting references from several former patients is not only a good idea, but really would you leave your child alone with an unkownn babysitter for even 15 minutes, much less hand your child's wellbeing over to a total stranger? All the doctor's I have talked with recently are welcoming to this interview process. If they are not....well really if you can not comfortably sit and talk to a doctor about concerns, do you really want their services?

3.Paying up front will save you a bundle. Whether you are insured or not, whether you have a hsa or not...ask if you can get a discount for paying up front. I saved more than $300 for paying for all the orthodontal treatment in one sum at front. That is a huge savings!

4. Doctors are people. Do not put them on pedestals! If you have questions or concerns--demand answers. If you feel that they are not seeing something...point it out. These are your kids. No one knows them like you. You may not know the science of any one given section of anatomy of your kid, but you know the whole child. If you see issues, behaviors or things that just don't seem right...demand answers, solutions and respect.

I have learned that one of my duties as a mother is to advocate for my children. I am blessed with fairly healthy kids, but due to eyes, allergies, and teeth, I am advocating for my children with medical professionals quite a bit. I have so glad to have found some amazing doctors to provide care for my children, but we have walked away from some doctors who I felt were not the best fit for the needs of my children.

So here is to clearer vision, the ability to breathe... for me, having peace in the care of my children...and straight toothed smiles which I look forward to enjoying all the days of my life.

Chocolate covered Sunday with a cherry on top

Happy Sunday! It is a wet day here at my house. The sky is a warm white sun being blocked by stubborn clouds, but I think the sun is gaining strength. The grass and the trees are wearing their best green for the efforts of these little rain clouds and between the white and the green is the most amazing azure air. I love when the air is golden and the smell of rain lingers at the windows. I remember as a child seeing the golden air and thinking it the most magical of days. It still doesn't dissappoint.

Much has happened this week and there has been little time to sit and write, so apologies on the front for what may be a long entry.

Soccer season shot into full swing this week. Pepper is a soccer playing all-star and I AM LOVING IT! My little fabulous diva can take it to the field! Jonesy says her mean streak has found a productive outlet. I am so proud of her..she got out there and gave it her all. What a champ! Macy and Noah followed her in a game (they are on the same team) and they were great as well. The Professor is proving himself a really talented goalie.My Pigeon is a great forward. She has a great ability to weave in and out of the field dribbling to the goal. She lacks leg strength to be a power house kicker, but her size and speed makes her a great asset to the team. I am coaching both teams and LOVE it. Who knew?

Since before we were married, Nate and I have wanted to adopt a child. We have considered this over and over through our marriage, but pregnancies put our anticipation of adopting on the back burner. We are currently taking the foster to adopt classes in order to be a step closer to this goal. For the next 10 weeks we will be taking these classes and undergoing all the activities to gain approval of the state. I have found myself laying in bed at night thinking about the future of our family and what God has planned for us. The past couple of nights I have been bothered by the thought that our little boy is out there somewhere in a very bad situation or is about to enter into a bad situation. This thought is so disturbing to me I am having trouble sleeping well. If you think of us, please pray on this.

We will be hosting a boarder. She has been the children's baby sitter and a dear friend to Nate and I. Mary Poppins will be moving into our home the first of May. She will be making the third floor her home until the end of the year. This is such a blessing to us, as she has agreed to watch our children while we are taking the FTA classes. She is oodles of fun, and the children are so excited they can hardly stand themselves.

Finally, and some of you will find this amusing, I have taken a job at UPS as a seasonal employee. I will be unloading trucks in the wee early morning hours. Jonesy and I have some bills we want to knock out and I am keeping my eye on the wood floors goal. I begin in May and am contracted as a seasonal employee. We will see, I may take to the workout and continue to work! We will have to see how I handle those early mornings.

Well that is this past week...I guess we will see what is in store for us this coming week. Blessings to you all.

Back home and Easter

Ahhh, it is so great to be back home. Traveling is always nice, but there is nothing like getting back to your own bed, your own routine and of course your very own JONESY! We got home middle of the afternoon Saturday and I needed to kick it into gear to prepare for all things Easter morning.

Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m., Jonesy and I awoke to children anxious to get down to see what the Easter Bunny brought them. We scurried them back to bed and told them the Easter Bunny would not be happy for his gifts to be opened until after 7:30! From 5:30 until 7:30 there was no rest for any of us. Molly had slept on rollers and started to take the rollers out of her hair. She was very displeased with the initial look of her coif--we heard her cry in her mirror--"I look like an idiot!" This was in addition to her crying the night before as I was finishing putting rollers in her very tender head, " I didn't even want to have curls. Macy told me I should get rollers so I could stay up later!"

At 7:30 we made our way down stairs to see the children rustle through the grass in their baskets. Our Easter tradition is for the children to eat chocolate bunnies for breakfast. They tore into those bunnies ears first and soon faces and hands were covered in Easter happiness.

After some dying of eggs and a serious washing of children, we headed to church services. I can not express the appreciation I have for our church family. Celebrating the resurrection of our Savior is an amazing experience with these great people!

We had an Easter dinner potluck with our church family and then we had an egg hunt for the children. It was so sweet to watch the excitement and timidity of the below four year olds as they came out to the back field of the elementary school to gather their eggs. About five minutes later the doors exploded as the 5 to 11 set came to search out their eggs. It seems it took less than 10 minutes for all the eggs to be found. So fun!

Last night we regrouped with our boys & V for Sunday night dinner. We met at the park for a pizza picnic and played on the playground until it got dark and started to rain. The stormy weather brewing combined with going down the slides made for some amazing static electricity charges. The sparks were flying from fingers!

The only downside to being home is the large loads of laundry which need to be addressed, taxes needing to be calculated and the desperate need to go to the grocery store...but alas...this is part of what makes home, home....and there really is no place like it!

REStore

Spring Break is running at a record pace and we are at our midpoint. The children and I are still in Atlanta and having a really great time. Last night Carli and her friend, Robert came for dinner, the children put on a talent show and we just hung out and chatted and checked out comedy sketches online. We put the children to bed earlier than they had been going down through the week (10:30 last night--). They could not understand why they had to go to bed so early. Appears they are in full vacation mode!

Today we are going to make the trek to the Habitat for Humanity REStore. I am super stoked about checking it out. The REStore in Nashville is one of my most favorite places so I have high expectations for ATL. Their website inventory has not been updated since November...of 2008, so it is hard to say what all they will have. Hopefully we will find some treasures!

We leave tomorrow to head to Lori Lancaster's for the remainder of the week. I am anxious to see her and her new house. We will have an Uppercase Living party on Friday evening. Then home on Saturday. I am super ready to see Jonesy!

IKEA high

Andee and I made our way sans children (There is a special place in Heaven for Jay for keeping all 7 ofthe kids!) to Atlanta proper to visit the IKEA. WOW OH WOW OH WOW! We were there for about 3 hours and it just was not enough time! If we had limitless time, I would have touched, held and read everything I saw! There will just have to be another trip in the very near future. Oh the ideas I had for everything I came across....yes I see a weekend trip to Atlanta in May--maybe Nate and I can come for a romantic weekend and fit Ikea in. I have a feeling that a few hours of happiness in Ikea could. be. very.romantic.
Yesterday we made our way to Andee's favorite Goodwill...I found some serious treasures there too. My favorite-- 3 oval frames, when once painted black will be perfect for pictures of the kids. I also found a great candleabra for $5.00, I just need to build my faux fireplace for it to go in! Andee and I split a pair for cast iron doves that are painted white with the greatest rusty patina. They are just so spectacular we HAD to have them. I will have to post pictures soon. I also got Nate a TBN frame for 55 cents. It will be a great Easter present--it cracks me up. I guess another day I will have to share the stories of Nate's weird addiction to TBN--thanks Andee for not only finding this little treasure, but sharing it with me. Well I am off to find a picture of the pope to fit in the frame......