1. To stay in touch with Brandi in a more fun and multi-media way. The flip side of this, though, is that when Brandi isn't blogging you will notice my posts go waaaay down in number. (so keep blogging, Brandi!)
2. To stay in touch with my other friends, even the ones here in OK (or,for that matter, even a mile away) We are all too busy to talk to everyone daily, but we can all blog and we will be able to catch up on everyone's lives in a few minutes.
3. And how often are you going to get your photo album out for your friends to see? When I was growing up, my parents would have slide show parties with their friends. Then that got to be sort of a joke. But in the bloggy world, we can share pics, videos, songs and anything else that strikes our fancy. Our friends can look at it and share when it is convenient for them.
4. To tell people Kaedra's story and give people hope through similar circumstances. Also to let people who are praying for her or are concerned about her know how she is doing.
5. To keep an (almost) daily journal. I have tried for 19 years to get back into keeping a daily journal. This is my most successful effort. (and more fun although I still miss the feel of pen on paper) I like having a record of events I can look back on.
6. For a creative outlet. I used to have more creative juices than I do now, but I still long to get things out now and then.
7. To make lists. I love lists. Lists of books, lists of movies, lists of music, lists of to-dos, lists oh have-dones, lists of favorite verses. Now I have a central location for my lists.
8. To make new friends. I love meeting new people and my blog has given me the ability to meet people all over the world. I am hoping to make lasting friendships with some of the wonderful ladies I have met.
9. To share "what works for me." One of my favorite things to read is helpful hints and Shannon's WFMW is a great place to read lots of great ideas. I love being able to contribute to those ideas now and then too. This goes along with my favorite quote: "What are we here for if not to make life easier for one another?"
10. To share my faith.. On those same lines...The number one 'thing' that works for me is God. I like having a way to share my joy in the Lord with others and hopefully inspire them. This is the reason I have our answered prayers on my sidebar.
11. To connect with like-minded people and be inspired by them. I love the organizing pages I go to and, most recently, the organizing challenge I am taking part in. It's great to meet people with the same "hobbies" as you and be able to all work together to get things done.
12. To have accountability partners. The best example I have of this is Smart Habit Saturday. Lara's creation of this accountability group has really inspired me this year and helped me in making some lasting changes. I have met some great ladies there, too, and they can be very encouraging! Brandi and I have also used the blogs to stay accountable to each other on and off over the years.
13. To occassionally be able to get up on my 'soap box' and have a venue to express what I feel. Since it's my page I can say what I want and not get kicked off. ;-)
Click here to check out other Thursday Thirteens.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Balancing Act
I am constantly juggling.
And no, I'm not talking about my "roles" in life. They have all pretty much melded into one big hodgepodge that I'm comfortable with.
I am constantly juggling situations with Kaedra.
We recently received paperwork that qualifies Kaedra as disabled. For the past 2 1/2 years, and even now, we have been speaking that she is healed and whole and certainly not disabled. We needed that label, however, to get TEFRA - financial aid to pick up where our insurance ends. And we are thankful to get it. Blessed even. But not by the label.
And it's not just the label...
We strive in every way to make her life 'normal.' But it has a flip side. We want her to be able to enjoy church and co-op with other kids her age but we have to be very careful of germs. We want her to have fun - to run and play, swing and slide - but we have to make sure no one (including her) trips over her oxygen tubing and that she doesn't damage her exposed organs or her back. We are trying to teach her to fall asleep on her own but she can yank off her ventilator circuits or pulse ox probes and get our attention very quickly with her alarms. We try to discipline her but if she gets to crying hard enough we are on the verge of endangering her.
It's not just how we treat her that we have to juggle. It is also how we talk about her.
Most of the time, we never refer to Kaedra as anything but a typical toddler. We try not to dwell on what makes her different. We do it so much that I am always surprised when someone is uncomfortable around her. Recently we had a bad week with that. One of her Sunday School teachers was uncomfortable with oxygen being in their room, we had two cashiers who literally freaked out about her (she was just sitting in the cart each time) and a friend's daughter was grossed out by her trach.
On the other hand, I have noticed other moms trying to compare their kids to Kaedra. They compare their toddler who has a speech problem with Kaedra and what she has. For some reason, they want to show how hard they have it and it almost seems like they are trying to say they have it as bad as or worse than us. Personally, I don't like thinking of Motherhood as a competition. I would rather think of it as a team sport.
Recently I had a friend ask me why we thought we needed nursing. "Kaedra seems almost normal."
"Almost normal."
I guess that's the kicker. The "almost." There is a lot going on in that almost. We pray everyday for that one word to go away.
But in that 'almost' lies a trach, a gtube, lots of medical equipment, missing ribs, hemivertebrae, scoliosis, surgeries every six months, underdeveloped lungs, immunity issues and a mom and dad that would like to sleep through the night without thinking of life and death issues. THAT's why we'd like a nurse.
And yes, Kaedra is almost normal. And yes, she is doing great. And yes, we speak life over her every minute of every day. But she is still a little girl with serious issues.
And I'm her Mommy, trying to figure out how to balance it all.
And no, I'm not talking about my "roles" in life. They have all pretty much melded into one big hodgepodge that I'm comfortable with.
I am constantly juggling situations with Kaedra.
We recently received paperwork that qualifies Kaedra as disabled. For the past 2 1/2 years, and even now, we have been speaking that she is healed and whole and certainly not disabled. We needed that label, however, to get TEFRA - financial aid to pick up where our insurance ends. And we are thankful to get it. Blessed even. But not by the label.
And it's not just the label...
We strive in every way to make her life 'normal.' But it has a flip side. We want her to be able to enjoy church and co-op with other kids her age but we have to be very careful of germs. We want her to have fun - to run and play, swing and slide - but we have to make sure no one (including her) trips over her oxygen tubing and that she doesn't damage her exposed organs or her back. We are trying to teach her to fall asleep on her own but she can yank off her ventilator circuits or pulse ox probes and get our attention very quickly with her alarms. We try to discipline her but if she gets to crying hard enough we are on the verge of endangering her.
It's not just how we treat her that we have to juggle. It is also how we talk about her.
Most of the time, we never refer to Kaedra as anything but a typical toddler. We try not to dwell on what makes her different. We do it so much that I am always surprised when someone is uncomfortable around her. Recently we had a bad week with that. One of her Sunday School teachers was uncomfortable with oxygen being in their room, we had two cashiers who literally freaked out about her (she was just sitting in the cart each time) and a friend's daughter was grossed out by her trach.
On the other hand, I have noticed other moms trying to compare their kids to Kaedra. They compare their toddler who has a speech problem with Kaedra and what she has. For some reason, they want to show how hard they have it and it almost seems like they are trying to say they have it as bad as or worse than us. Personally, I don't like thinking of Motherhood as a competition. I would rather think of it as a team sport.
Recently I had a friend ask me why we thought we needed nursing. "Kaedra seems almost normal."
"Almost normal."
I guess that's the kicker. The "almost." There is a lot going on in that almost. We pray everyday for that one word to go away.
But in that 'almost' lies a trach, a gtube, lots of medical equipment, missing ribs, hemivertebrae, scoliosis, surgeries every six months, underdeveloped lungs, immunity issues and a mom and dad that would like to sleep through the night without thinking of life and death issues. THAT's why we'd like a nurse.
And yes, Kaedra is almost normal. And yes, she is doing great. And yes, we speak life over her every minute of every day. But she is still a little girl with serious issues.
And I'm her Mommy, trying to figure out how to balance it all.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Thinking Blogger Award
Woohoo!! I got an award!! Thank you Susan!!!
I got tagged by Susan for the Thinking Blogger's Award.
I am now supposed to write about 5 blogs that make me think. Considering how many blogs I read, and how many friends I have that blog, this is going to be hard! Anyway, these are my top picks:
1. Lefty's Letters: I love Amelia's posts. She inspires my faith, makes me laugh and I find myself thinking about her blogs throughout the day. Two of my favorites are todays blog and the Today Blog.
2. Melanie's blog: Although Melanie doesn't blog much, (hint-hint) I love what she writes. To be honest, I don't care if it's in a newsletter, a book, a magazine or what. I just love her writing!
3. The Lazy Organizer: Lara's blog is one of my favorite ones. I LOVE organizing info and seeing what other people are doing. I love Smart Habit Saturday. I love her info on organizing your kids. I love being mentioned on her blog...in a video no less! LOL And check out the last pic on this post. Have you ever seen a more adorable little girl? Her blog is an inspiration to me on several levels.
4. Large Family Logistics: I have to vote for this one because, second to Lara's blog, I have gotten the most info to help me out on a day to day basis here. Her Beyond Survival Series is awesome and has helped me get back on track. In fact, this is one of the reasons I am no longer living in chaos! I love her no-nonsense attitude and her blogs about attitude. I never comment on her page, so she doesn't know me from beans, but I think the world of her. :-)
5. This last one is really hard. I still have too many to pick from. I am going to go with Rocks in my Dryer: I LOVE Shannon's blog. I love reading about her day to day life and I love her Works for me Wednesday. I cannot even tell you how many great ideas I have gotten from there and that I now use in every day life. Shannon is also fun to read because she is from my neck of the woods. For some reason, that makes it more enjoyable. Especially when we are going through the same weather. To see an example of how she makes me think, check out her blog from today.
If I didn't mention you, it's not because you don't make me think! I promise! I just had too many good choices! :-)
If I picked you, you now get to pick 5 bloggers who make YOU think! Find out more here.
Happy Blogging!
updates
I had a friend ask me last week if things were settling down. (by the way Sammi, email me! I can't get through your firewall at work!) I realized I haven't given any updates lately so here we go:
Ethan is getting to be such a big boy! He is much better at nursing now and he is still pretty good at sleeping at night. He cries a whole lot less; although he still has his moments. The best part is that he SMILES! That makes everything worthwhile. He always wants to be held but he is not as particular about who holds him as Emily was and he has already had his first experience in the nursery at church without me! Of course Ashton was the teacher that night and he loves her. He has a dr appt tomorrow for his first shots.
Kaedra has her next rib surgery next Friday. Michael is taking her up to Kansas City this time without me. They will leave Thursday morning and hopefully get home late Saturday or sometime Sunday. Yesterday was her first time in quite awhile where she was off of her oxygen all day. Hallelujah! She absolutely adores her little brother and she is becoming a big helper. She loves helping with everything. (In fact, at the Easter egg hunt at church on Sunday night, I think that she thought they were just cleaning up the grass. I don't think she had any idea the eggs were supposed to be treats for her. Of course, since she doesn't eat, they were technically treats for Brittany (who is in youth now, so she didn't have an egg hunt). Kaedra finished long before Britty wanted her too! LOL
Emily has started reading! We are using 100 easy lessons to teach your child to read and we do it while I am sitting feeding Ethan. She is doing great and picking it up very well. She has cooked two things recently and she really loves doing it. She loves holding Ethan and sometimes she's the only one who can calm him down. :-)
Brittany is really getting geared up for her mission trip. She has a "rock-a-thon" next week at church to earn money. She (and the other people going) are starting Spanish lessons this week and they will be working on the plays that they are going to be doing down there. She is doing great in school and is getting more independent all the time. She loves Oklahoma history (as do I) and she is doing great in Latin. She has a blog now, but doesn't have a lot of time to work on it.
I am doing great. We are walking a mile almost every day which I really love. I am following routines all day long and getting more organized in my life and my house. We are eating better and I am still taking iron and I am feeling pretty good.
Michael is doing pretty good. No more back problems. I got him an MP3 player for our anniversary and he LOVES that.
Life is definitely settling down and it's wonderful. I am not one who thrives on chaos!
Ethan is getting to be such a big boy! He is much better at nursing now and he is still pretty good at sleeping at night. He cries a whole lot less; although he still has his moments. The best part is that he SMILES! That makes everything worthwhile. He always wants to be held but he is not as particular about who holds him as Emily was and he has already had his first experience in the nursery at church without me! Of course Ashton was the teacher that night and he loves her. He has a dr appt tomorrow for his first shots.
Kaedra has her next rib surgery next Friday. Michael is taking her up to Kansas City this time without me. They will leave Thursday morning and hopefully get home late Saturday or sometime Sunday. Yesterday was her first time in quite awhile where she was off of her oxygen all day. Hallelujah! She absolutely adores her little brother and she is becoming a big helper. She loves helping with everything. (In fact, at the Easter egg hunt at church on Sunday night, I think that she thought they were just cleaning up the grass. I don't think she had any idea the eggs were supposed to be treats for her. Of course, since she doesn't eat, they were technically treats for Brittany (who is in youth now, so she didn't have an egg hunt). Kaedra finished long before Britty wanted her too! LOL
Emily has started reading! We are using 100 easy lessons to teach your child to read and we do it while I am sitting feeding Ethan. She is doing great and picking it up very well. She has cooked two things recently and she really loves doing it. She loves holding Ethan and sometimes she's the only one who can calm him down. :-)
Brittany is really getting geared up for her mission trip. She has a "rock-a-thon" next week at church to earn money. She (and the other people going) are starting Spanish lessons this week and they will be working on the plays that they are going to be doing down there. She is doing great in school and is getting more independent all the time. She loves Oklahoma history (as do I) and she is doing great in Latin. She has a blog now, but doesn't have a lot of time to work on it.
I am doing great. We are walking a mile almost every day which I really love. I am following routines all day long and getting more organized in my life and my house. We are eating better and I am still taking iron and I am feeling pretty good.
Michael is doing pretty good. No more back problems. I got him an MP3 player for our anniversary and he LOVES that.
Life is definitely settling down and it's wonderful. I am not one who thrives on chaos!
Monday, April 09, 2007
Sunday, April 08, 2007
SMART Habit Saturday
Well this hasn't been a great week for my habits! I stuck with the laundry daily but that was it (out of the habits I was going to concentrate on this week). It's not that I didn't do them. I just didn't do any of them consistently! I will keep working on them this week. I am going to make myself some reminder signs. :-)
My new habit is something we've been working on, I just need to get better at it. My 2 1/2 year old daughter, Kaedra, is fed through a g-tube. She was getting her food 24 hours a day but we have recently started trying to give her all of her food in between 7am and 9pm. That means we have to feed her every 3 1/2 hours. Sometimes I miss that window by a little bit and it messes up our plan (which is to not feed her at night while she is asleep.) I have alarms set to remind us, but if we aren't near the alarms, we miss them. Sooo I am going to work on feeding her at the proper times all this week (including Wednesday when we have to leave the house, which is a little trickier).
If you'd like to participate or see others involved in Smart Habit Saturday, check out Lazy Organizer's site. And, as added incentive, Lara is giving out PRIZES!! WOOHOO!
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
30 Day Organizational Challenge
I am so excited! I am participating in the Spring Organizational Challenge put on by Laura at Organizing Junkie.
She has two categories: a large room/area and a small room/area.
I am participating in both. My large room/area is my garage and my small room/area is under my kitchen sink.
Here are my before pics of the garage:
And here are my preliminary answers to these questions:
1. What do I want the purpose of my room or area to be?
to be storage and ready access for several different types of items:
a. car (or cars, depending on hubby)
b. tools/ home improvement supplies
c. gardening gear
d. garbage cans
e. kids outside toys
f. winter gear (might move this to the attic, now that I think about it)
g. freezer
2. What do I need in or near the room to serve that purpose?
I need some better storage solutions. Maybe some shelving, some more hooks, some tubs, would like a wireless entry system for when we take walks.
3. What can I remove from the room?
tools I don't use, cleaning items I don't use, old paints, some things can go to the attic
4. What problems do I see with the room?
too many uses for too little space. putting everything that doesn't have a place in the house into the garage. Not a good system in place for kids to use.
5. What organizational tools might solve those problems?
Cutting down on the uses (like putting the winter gear in the attic (at least in the summer, maybe I could switch out in the winter and put the kids outside toys in the attic), defining areas of use: a gardening area, tool area, car stuff area, toy area
6. What habits need to change to solve the organizational problems?
follow up on kids putting toys away when they get in. Put things outside on workbench myself so it gets put away in the right place. Limiting the amount of stuff we keep. Regular purging.
7. What kind of a budget do I have to create the organized room of my dreams?
Very limited (maybe $50 or less?)
8. What kind of a timeline is necessary to organize the room?
Need a few good days of working on it a few hours at a time. Could start purging it right away, though, in smaller increments.
9. What is my plan of action?
a. purge the unneeded stuff
b. move winter stuff to attic
c. decide on areas in garage for each type of item, make limits on the area
d. put like items together
e. decide what supplies/containers are needed for each area
f. buy items and install
g. put things where they go
h. take pictures and post them! :-)
10. Who can I ask to help me with this?
my kids, Sherria (my neice), my hubby, maybe Ashton or my mother in law to hold the baby while I am working.
And here is my before pic of under my kitchen sink:
And my answers to the questions pertaining to under my sink, now:
1. What do I want the purpose of my room or area to be?
cleaning items storage
2. What do I need in or near the room to serve that purpose?
shelves and/or containers. childproof locks.
3. What can I remove from the room?
several cleaners I don't use. who knows what else is down there!
4. What problems do I see with the room?
too much stuff! Not staying in boxes. Boxes not labelled. Too hard to access boxes since it is a corner cabinet.
5. What organizational tools might solve those problems?
shelves and better containers.
6. What habits need to change to solve the organizational problems?
putting things away in correct box/container. making it friendly for others to know where to put stuff.
7. What kind of a budget do I have to create the organized room of my dreams?
Very limited (maybe $20 or less?)
8. What kind of a timeline is necessary to organize the room?
just a few hours
9. What is my plan of action?
a. purge the unneeded stuff
b. make categories of items
c. decide if anything can go anywhere else
d. research shelving for corner cabinet with sink
e. buy shelving and/or containers
f. install
g. put to work, label
h. install childproof system
10. Who can I ask to help me with this?
Sherria, my mother in law or Ashton to hold Ethan
I am excited about getting those areas done as well as the possibility of winning prizes! WOOHOO! Do you have any areas you want to work on? Come join me and the other people at Organizing Junkie's site!
Monday, April 02, 2007
Woolaroc trip
We took a family trip to Woolaroc yesterday. We have been there many times, but we love it! Here are our pics.
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