Movie for your weekend

J and I signed up for the free 2 week trial of Netflix over the weekend. We go to the movie store, but find it so overwhelming that we walk out with nothing even though there are TONS of movies we haven’t seen.

J searched around, read various recommendation lists, and selected two movies for us and one for the kids. Last night we watched Once. Oh my goodness!! If you have not seen it yet, you must check it out this weekend. That is, if you like music. I guess if you really don’t like music, you might not like the movie. But how can you NOT like music??? It has a romantic undertone, but is by no means a chick flick.

J immediately purchased the soundtrack off itunes.

I’ve got to go jump in the bath before JS comes. Trust me, it’s awesome. Watch it. The end. 🙂

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My turn!

J was off this weekend, which basically means every moment he wasn’t tending to the kids (or me), he was on the laptop. I’ve been itching to get a post out, but couldn’t wrangle the computer away from him!

So Thursday morning I took Little Bear in to the doc for his leg. She found his most tender spot by palpating around his leg and watching for him to squirm. Three year olds are funny-You ask if what you are doing is ok, they say yes. You ask them if it hurts, they say yes. We went for an X-ray to rule out a hairline fracture and it was negative. It’s entirely possible that it wouldn’t show for a week, but they wouldn’t treat him any differently since he can walk. He’s still limping around, but it certainly hasn’t slowed him down at all!

I’ve had to move my PT eval a few times, but I think I’m set now for next week. J will actually be off of work that week, so I shouldn’t have to take anyone with me! Ultimately, my goal is to try to go while Little Bear is in school so I only have to take Little Lamb. The most difficult one to deal with for sure. But at least it’s just one!

I’m not feeling all that creative with my writing-or anything really-lately. I sort of feel like I’m just throwing stuff up here so I can say I’ve posted, but I’m not exactly loving it! I’m hoping to shake this lack-of-creativity bug soon. Take care you all!!

The verdicts

I started this entry on Sunday night…sorry for the extended delay!

So this is what we know now:

*Little Lamb does not have celiac nor does she have a wheat allergy

*We will spend the next few weeks first reintroducing milk into her diet and then trying gluten again and seeing what happens

*I don’t know what the plan will be if she returns to the diarrhea once we try gluten again

*I do indeed have an ovarian cyst. According to J, it’s completely benign so long as it doesn’t grow so big it causes my ovary to twist. Sounds fun, huh? I go back to my doc on Tuesday to discuss the MRI and probably the cyst as well.

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On another note, Little Bear has been in underwear for a full two weeks now! He still sleeps in a Pull-Up, mostly because he likes them and I still have some-so why not?

There’s a woman on TV making a dish called “African Ground Nut Stew”. Seriously?? That sounds disgusting!!

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It is Wednesday now. I saw my doc on Tuesday to review my MRI. It was a very short visit. He wants me to do physical therapy twice a week for 4 weeks. I’m a bit concerned about how I’ll manage the therapy with the kids…

What else??? Little Bear has been limping around on his left leg for three days now. When I can get him to pinpoint the pain, it is in his knee just under the knee cap. Most of the time he is completely unfazed by it, but when he’s been sitting (or sleeping) for a while and gets up, he cries from the pain. I’ll be calling the pediatrician in the morning about that one. It’s quite a mystery to me.

Please keep us, with all our crazy physical ailments, in your prayers. I am diligently trying to take time each day to pray for all of you, my readers. Those I know about, and those I don’t! If you have any specific concerns, please pass them along to me-depechemommy (at) gmail (dot) com if you don’t want to leave it in the comments.

Today’s findings

Little Bear and Little Lamb saw the doctor this morning for well-check visits and I had a pelvic ultrasound (I’ll explain that later). This is what we’ve learned today:

1. LB has fluid (clear) behind his ears! Maybe that’s why he hasn’t seemed to hear me as well lately.

2. LL had blood drawn to test for Celiac, a wheat allergy (allergies and intolerances are totally different things), and a basic chem panel. We will hopefully have the results by Friday.

3. I had an MRI on my back on Saturday to check for bulging disks (none!) but they noticed a 4-5cm cyst-like structure in my pelvis. The sono tech said it looked like a cyst to her, but we’ll have to wait for the doc’s report to be sure.

J’s using the laptop so I’m on the floor on the desktop. Have to keep it short…

I’ll keep you updated with our medical issues as I know things.

Frustration

Belle’s been wanting to see a basketball game. I knew it would cost too much money to see a college game, so I said maybe a high school game. It turns out that the last game is tonight. I called the school to find out about cost. $5 per person. Even kids. It would cost $20 to take myself and the kids. That is ridiculous!! Belle shrieked when I told her we couldn’t go…

What’s left?

It got these “Pretzel Rings” for Little Lamb today. They are Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free, Milk-Free, Lactose-Free, and Egg-Free. So my question is…what’s holding these things together???

She seems to really like them. They are light, airy, and therefore easy for her to eat. And they satisfy that need for something crunchy to throw in a bowl that she can carry around and spread crumbs all over the house!

The Grand Experiment

***If you can’t handle talk of poopy diapers, then read no further!***

[Also, this is really long. I want a written record of my thoughts and feelings through this process, so forgive me for being a bit long-winded.]

Long time readers will know that Little Lamb was not the easiest of babies. It wasn’t just that she didn’t sleep well. It wasn’t just that she was fussy. It wasn’t just her unbelievably shrill scream. It was all these things together, and so much more.

I have always been suspicious that there was something behind her disposition. In fact, I all but begged the pediatrician for a referral to an allergist when she was 7 months old. The skin tests were all negative. The resident was ready to order a blood test, but the attending said no go. The rash was not quite right. “Some babies are just fussy.” “Yeah, right. You try living with her!” was what I wanted to say to him. But of course, I didn’t.

I’ve since mentioned to the pediatricians (we see a practice of 5 or so docs, but there are two women we see most often) that her poopy diapers just don’t seem right. It was first dismissed as being young-an underdeveloped digestive system. Then it was dismissed as a matter of volume of liquid intake compared to solids intake. She was gaining weight, so I understand why they were not as alarmed as I. But the diapers were getting worse. No longer just mushy, but true diarrhea all the time.

Just after Christmas (when J was around more often to witness the state of the diapers), he suggested we try Lactaid. Within 24 hours she improved greatly. I was so excited thinking I had finally found the answer. The improvement lasted about 3-4 days, but slowly returned to mushy, then worse. I cut out all cheese and yogurt with no change.

When Belle was at the doctor for strep, I asked her about Little Lamb. I told her about the short term improvement and she suggested getting some Pro Biotic to see if she might have somehow killed the “good” bacteria that live in the lining of your stomach. I bought the powder, but saw no results. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse.

I started looking more seriously at what she was eating on the days when the diarrhea was the worst. She’s in that typical baby phase (at least typical for my kids) in between baby food and being willing to eat a variety of foods. Each of my kids has gone through this same phase where basically all they really eat are carbs and fruit, usually at least with cheese and yogurt mixed in (but not for Little Lamb). She was eating 2 Eggo waffles for breakfast, dry cereal and veggie/fruit puffs for snacks, crackers or bread at lunch, graham crackers for afternoon snack, and so on and so forth.

In doing some research, I began to wonder if she might have a gluten intolerance. She had a terrible cold last week, but I also knew we have an appointment this Wednesday for a check-up with the pediatrician. So I decided to do a little experiment: remove all sources of gluten from her diet for the week prior to the appt and see if there was any difference in her diapers.

The results thus far are such:

*Gluten is in EVERYTHING “normal” people eat!

*Gluten free food is really expensive! Of the roughly $60 I spent on food last week, $40 was spent on Little Lamb alone. What have the rest of us eaten? Well…not much frankly!

*She has had no more than 2 poopy diapers (and some days only 1!!) a day in 3 or 4 days.

*She has had 2 completely normal poopy diapers in the last 2 days.

*It is absolutely depressing to think that my dear, sweet girl could have no memory of the taste of a crusty loaf of french bread or a Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie.

We do not have a definitive diagnosis at this point. But, I wanted to be able to walk into the doctor’s office on Wednesday with more than just a hunch. I don’t know for certain, but she’ll probably order a blood test and/or possibly refer us to a specialist.

As much as I don’t want her to be glucose intolerant, or worse have celiac, it is nice to think that we might be on the right track to solving the puzzle that is Little Lamb. If this is indeed our new way of life, it is going to take A LOT of trial and error to find food that she’ll eat. A process that will surely be full of much wasted food, money, time, and energy. I only ask that you keep my little baby (as well as the doctors) in your prayers.

Ok, I’m exhausted now! How ’bout you? It’s time to close up shop and hit the bed. Till the next time we meet…….

Of sleepovers, boobies, and the Trinity

I never know where bedtime conversations with Belle will lead. Little Lamb didn’t nap much today so I put her to bed early. Belle, Little Bear and I snuggled up on the sofa and began reading Little House on the Prairie. Little Bear doesn’t usually join in on such long reads, but he was tired (no nap as well) so he was ready for bed. Little Bear quickly fell asleep on the sofa giving Belle and I some much needed alone time. We continued reading a second chapter, watched the online video of Punxsutawnie Phil, and headed up to bed.

After saying our prayers, the fun began. First, Belle and I planned a night when she can sleep in my bed with me (a day when J will be gone all night). She was so excited about the plan that she gave me a big hug. She felt my bra through my shirt, and then she asked me why “big girls” wear bras. This lead to an interesting discussion of boobies-small ones, big ones, support….you know, the basics. As of right now, Belle is hoping for small boobies like Mommy. In fact, she’s hoping that God-who lives in her heart and can hear everything she says, right?-heard her say she wanted small boobies and will grant her wish. This led to the question “Is God alive?”

And so I described, in a very basic form, the Trinity. First we have the Father-who created everything and has always lived in Heaven; then Jesus, the Son-who lived on Earth, died on Good Friday (which is why we didn’t have a celebration on Ash Wednesday, despite the fact that it is a special day), and rose again on Easter; and finally, the Holy Spirit-who lives in our hearts and helps us know right from wrong. Clearly this is very simplified, but God is a mysterious concept for kids. We’ve had very similar discussions to this one several times over the years, and I know more will come.

And that, my friends, is how you get from sleepovers to boobies to the Trinity!

Lent

On a random click today, I happened upon a blog discussing Ash Wednesday. It was a Catholic blog that clearly felt that the day was solely a Catholic tradition. The post “explained” Ash Wednesday through a series of church signs between a Catholic church and a couple of other churches. The post itself was harmless enough, I guess, though so dumbed down that they didn’t really explain anything. But it really irked me, probably more than it should have. I have regularly attended 6 or 8 churches over the years (all Episcopalian or Methodist) and all of them have taken Lent very seriously.

I believe that religious beliefs are deeply personal and go well beyond a particular denomination of “the church”. The beliefs of your heart, no matter what the wrapping, are all that really matter. The way I see it, the church you attend says much about the way you like to worship, but little about the validity of your faith.

So how do I view Lent? I’ve tried several things over the years.

In high school, I gave up cursing. I was never a super potty mouth, but I would throw out a word here and there. In a rare moment of introspection, I realized I was only saying those words to look cool to someone else. I decided that was far too immature for me and I resolved to give them up for Lent. It worked quite well, actually.

During my Freshman year of college, I gave up cokes. I stayed reasonably true to my sacrifice (Can you imagine going 6 weeks of college without any caffeine? I rarely go more than one day without it now!) but I felt like I had cheated when Lent ended and I went right back to my one-coke-a-day habit.

I took a different approach during my sophomore year. I hadn’t attended church services very regularly at that point. I went to a weekly youth ministry meeting, but I only went to church now and then. I decided to take something new on-going to church every week-as my Lenten devotion. There was a small Episcopal church across the street from my dorm (I didn’t yet have a car, so walking distance was imperative) with a nice, caring priest and a well meaning-but not well gifted-organinst/choir director. I learned a lot during my years at that church.

The other years of college I continued to take things on-reading the Bible every day, working in a youth ministry, and such things. It was so much easier to really focus on my relationship with Christ back then.

I have to admit my faith has never been as integral in my life as it was in college. Before the distractions of “real” work, marriage, kids, preparing meals, cleaning a house…the list goes on. I’m not quite sure where God is leading me this year, but I’m actively seeking His plan for this Lenten season.

Won’t you join me on this search?

[Please not that I have absolutely no issue with the Catholic church or with Catholics in general, I just didn’t like this one post by this one person. Ok, some of the commenters there bugged me too, but I do think you know what I mean.]

The Big Fat Dragon

Little Bear’s imagination is really blossoming these days.  I love listening to the stories he creates.    
Today we went over the mountain to the grocery store. Yes, we really do go to “the other side of the mountain” when we go to the store. (As a Texas girl, the idea of driving over the mountains to go to the grocery store still makes me laugh.) On the way home, he began spinning a tale about “The Big Fat Dragon”. Apparently said dragon is a bit accident prone. Come to think of it most of his characters are, as they all wind up falling down and having to go to the hospital. This particular dragon fell down the stairs, broke his head open, and then we took him to the hospital. He’s kind of obsessed with Daddy’s hospital right now, can you tell?

He carried on his tale, saying Big Fat Dragon at least 50 times in our 15 mile treck. It does seem that although the dragon has a little trouble with his weight, he is a fairly nice dragon…He only made fire in his mouth one time-when the bad guys came!

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Hmmm, there are large birds circling above the house outside. Hawks or vultures, I’m guessing. I wonder what they’ve spotted?