Owen on the News

Owen has had a fun month this May. On Saturday, he got to tour the Channel 7 television station in Little Rock with his Pack 21 Tiger Cub group from Cabot. He got a full tour with anchor Pamela Smith, got to read off the teleprompter, sat on the set and behind the anchor desk, and learned how to read the weather maps! He thought it was great! Then, Pamela Smith gave a quick report about their tour and showed pictures of the kids on the ten o'clock news on Saturday night (May 17). We were able to get it on tape, and Owen was thrilled to see himself on television.

Owen has also been taking swimming lessons again this month. He is actually looking forward to it this year, and he has already gone completely underwater (which is amazing for him!). Owen has always had some water fear, so we have been working slowly at getting him comfortable with swimming over the past several summers. He has the same swim instructor as last June, so that made him very comfortable from the first day.

On the other hand, Hudson has NO water fear! On the first night of swimming lessons, I had all three kids with me at the pool. Hudson was so mad at me because he didn't understand why he couldn't swim like Owen. I was putting Arden down on the floor in her carseat carrier, and Hudson took off from me at full speed, in full clothing and shoes, with the intent of jumping into the pool -- in the deep end! He was determined that he was going to swim. The lifeguard saw him and grabbed him by the back of his shirt to stop him within a foot of the edge of the pool. Then, a few minutes later, he tried it again, and I ran after him! Needless to say, he has not gotten to go back to swimming lessons with us again. He will be glad when he can put on his suit in a few weeks and jump into the water. He'll probably be swimming like a fish and jumping off the diving board the first week. Maybe he should pursue a career as a Navy S.E.A.L! He definitely has no fear and loves water! (Our other thought is that he should grow up and live in France since all he wants to eat is bread, cheese, and fruit!)

Arden got her first ear infection this week, so we spent a very long weekend with her crying, fussing, and not eating or sleeping well while we counted the hours until the pediatrician's office opened on Monday morning. She had her first cold about 1 1/2 weeks ago (which she got from Hudson), and it turned into an ear infection in the same fashion as it did when the boys were young. We saw the pediatrician this morning and began antibiotics, so hopefully she will feel better soon. Maybe we won't have any more of this for awhile with the colds and viruses clearing out for summer! I'm ready to see her giggle again!

Update 5/24/08: Arden's ear infection did not clear up after 5 days on the first antiobiotic. She was still fussy and not eating well. I took her back to the pediatrican on Friday before the Memorial Day weekend since we didn't want another rough weekend when the doctor's office was closed! She ended up having a double ear infection by Friday! So, the doctor changed her medication to a stronger antibiotic which we began Friday for another ten days. So far, it seems to be helping.

One ear infection = 2 doctor's visits, 3 hours of driving back and forth to Little Rock, $70 in co-pays, 15 days on antibiotics.

A happy baby = priceless!

Track and Field Day

We just completed another highlight of first grade -- track and field day! Luckily, the impending rain held off for the event, and this morning Owen got to compete with all the other first graders. He was so excited -- mainly about bringing 50 cents to buy fruit snacks at the concession stand! He won three first place ribbons for the 50 yard dash, sack race, and the boys' relay! It's fun to see him have so much fun and to remember those days (of long, long ago!) when we had special events like this ourselves. After the morning events, the school gave the students a two hour lunch break, and most parents accompanied their child off campus to eat. I took Owen to his favorite spot -- Burger King (chosen because he wanted to see what new Indiana Jones toy would be in the kids' meal!). He got to play in the indoor playground with at least five other boys from his first grade class who met us there.

I enjoyed visiting with the other moms and catching up on the school news -- who is pregnant, which teachers are leaving, which teachers will be the second grade teachers next year, which VBS our kids will attend, who is taking swim lessons, etc. It was fun to be connected to that community again, and I realized how much I've missed it! Last year, I was up at Owen's school 1-2 days each week, and I was the room mom who organized all the class events and parties. I knew every child in his class very well and could recognize each of their parents. This year has been different since I had a baby. I couldn't volunteer due to my pregnancy complications last semester, and now I am unable to do much at the school due to lack of childcare for Arden. I've missed seeing these other moms and being more involved in his school!

I'm thankful for Owen's public school. I'm thankful for his dear, sweet teacher Mrs. Bradley and how much she genuinely loves kids. I'm thankful for the mom I met today who has adopted two abused children and given them a loving and stable home. Hopefully, second grade will be as good as this year has been!

Waiting . . . patiently?

Waiting patiently is hard for me, and maybe it is for you too. I think part of it is our society and the way that we are always accustomed to getting what we want, when we want it, with little to no wait. Additionally, I think we have a self-centered mindset and ultimately view life as being all about "me." Fast food restaurants advertise their speed and how you can get it "your way." Microwaves zap food so quickly that you never have time to leave the room before it's ready. DVR's and TiVo allow us to record any show on television with the touch of the button and watch with just a click. We don't even have to sit through the commercials; we can just fast forward through anything we don't want! If only life could be like that: record what you want, skip the bad stuff, and play when convenient.

If patience were a muscle, then mine is very out of shape, flabby, and weak. Everything about our daily lives imprints upon us that things should be fast and immediate. We lose our patience while we sit in traffic, we are frustrated when the delivery pizza takes too long to arrive, we really get irritated when the internet is down for 30 minutes! My children already expect fast service, immediate results, and instant gratification. How can we really expect to teach our children patience when we ourselves can't wait and be still?

I think God's plan for helping us to mature and rely on Him involves the process of waiting. Even though this season can be difficult, it is one of the only ways to learn about God. When things come quickly or easily, we rarely do more than mumble a half-hearted, "Thank you, Lord" under our breath. However, when we are forced to wait, we learn to come to the end of ourselves and begin to turn to God for strength, comfort, and peace. We may not get the results we desire, but our hearts can be changed to accept what God desires during this process. God commands us to, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 47:10). Part of knowing God involves resting in patience, not getting immediate results, and learning to wait.

It's hard to wait when the pregnancy test is negative for the fifteenth time.

It's hard to wait when you really desire to get married, and you are still single.

It's hard to wait when your husband lost his job, and three months later, he's still looking for work.

It's hard to wait when the house you need to sell is still on the market after 11 months.

It's hard to wait when the doctor says that there might be a medical problem with your child.

We wonder, "Where is God in this?"

I think the answer is that He's right there, next to us, wanting us to simply wait and trust Him. God can only develop patience in us by letting us exercise that muscle. He promises that He "longs to be gracious to you, he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" (Isaiah 30:18). So, I will wait . . . patiently.

Gratitude

I'll be the first to admit that whenever I am under stress, I usually don't handle it well. I worry and fret, I develop insomnia, I get irritable. I'm really trying to do a better job of resting in God's peace and not letting the small or large issues of life get to me so much. I watched a segment of an interview with Amy Grant the other day, and she said that when she begins to feel the tensions of life affecting her, she has benefitted from the act of gratitude. She said that she makes a written or verbal list of all the things in her life that she is thankful for, and it puts the current stress into perspective.

I guess I'll try it and see . . .

I am thankful for:

1. my God who has saved me and given me eternal life. Without that gift, nothing else would matter anyway.
2. my husband who always puts up with me, loves me unconditionally, tells me that I'm beautiful even with no makeup and "morning hair," and is the smartest person I know.
3. my three children -- all of whom are miracles for a woman who has had a diagnosis of infertility!
4. my fun and wonderful part-time teaching job which I am thankful to be able to do from home (online)
5. Stuart's job because unlike my little job, it actually pays our bills!
6. my extended family
7. my close friends who always lend a hand, pray with me, offer to watch my kids, make me feel appreciated and loved, and make me laugh
8. the opportunity that I was given to go to college and graduate school. My education has made a huge difference in my life.
9. my house
10. my new mini-van (even though I used to say I would never be caught driving one!)
11. the memories I have of my time with my dad
12. Sonic cherry limeade in the summertime
13. chocolate (specifically Toblerone)
14. Netflix
15. the smell of a baby sleeping on my shoulder
16. the fact that Arden is now sleeping all night most of the time!
17. Owen's elementary school and Hudson's great preschool
18. my good health
19. the internet (I honestly couldn't function without a computer!)
20. hearing my kids' laughter
21. the fact that I finally found the "perfect" diaper bag by the third child!
22. rainfall that comes right when I need to water my grass
23. chocolate covered glazed donuts from Daylight Donuts
24. contemporary Christian praise music which always changes my focus
25. the fact that I can finally fit back into my favorite jeans after baby #3!

What would your list say?

Bad Credit

In the past month I have taken two airline trips from Mexico to California, been to the Krogers in Georgia, filled up my car with gas in Atlanta, and purchased tickets at a racetrack. Does this sound like me? It was my credit card number walking around in the hands of a criminal who has somehow used two of my credit cards in the past month.

The first time was about a month ago, and I got a letter from a credit card of ours stating that there had been some unusual activity on our account, so they had frozen it until I called them. When I reached the fraud counselor, I found out that multiple airline tickets from Mexico to California had been purchased over a two day period using my credit card number. I still had both our cards in my possession, so we had no idea how the numbers were being used illegally. Luckily, the account was promptly closed, and we were not held liable.

Today, as I was leaving for church, I got another call from a different credit card stating that there had been unusual charges yesterday! Supposedly, someone had filled up for gas five times in one day in Georgia and gone to the racetrack with my credit card. Once again, both cards were still in our possession! The unusual thing this time was that the transactions were all made by swiping the card, so the criminal had to have a physical card! The bank said that these people know how to make duplicate, counterfeit cards, too!

Now, we are going to check our credit reports and be sure there are no problems there. I'm expecting yet another call in a few weeks stating that yet a third card has been compromised (that would probably exhaust our active cards). I wish I knew how these people got my credit card numbers because that is the scary part. How do you protect yourself if you don't know how they are obtaining information?

Lessons we've learned: be vigilent about your credit, read your bills closely to see if there is unusual activity, shred all financial documents, be sure to check your credit reports often, and place a fraud alert on your credit reports as soon as you have any trouble with identity theft. Thank goodness that both of our banks called immediately when they noticed a problem! I sure don't want to pay for a vacation that I never even took!

Her First Bow

I am not a girly mom; I have been used to parenting boys for the past 6 1/2 years. I have become accustomed to picking out a pair of jeans or shorts and throwing them together easily with a tee shirt or polo. The boys only own about 3-4 pairs of shoes at a time: tennis shoes, church shoes, sandals, and cleats (during soccer season). When the boys' hair begins to get long enough that we actually need a comb, then I know it's time for a haircut! I have been living in the world of primary colors, superheros, TMNT, Power Rangers, plastic swords and pretend guns, bugs, and Star Wars for the past several years, and I've loved it.

When we found out that Arden was going to be a girl, I was thrilled. I thought that was a perfect way to complete our family, so that we could experience both genders. Stuart was in shock for the first few weeks, as all he could think about was how expensive a girl would be. He was already contemplating how we would afford her prom dress and wedding before she was even born. I thoroughly enjoyed decorating a "shabby chic" nursery, complete with vintage florals and pink toile. I admit it -- I decorated the nursery for me. She will never really care what the room looked like, and she will never remember it. I loved picking out the pink fabrics and fulfilling my dream of a feminine room (see posted pictures).

Now . . . I am trying to figure out the clothing arena. There are so many choices with girls' clothes! Why do all the children's stores and boutiques allot 3/4 of the store to the "pink" section, and only have two racks of boys' clothes? Why do little girls have more shoes than I own? Why do girls need purses at the age of 3 and before they even have lipstick, cell phones, or wallets to put in them? What exactly do you do with leggings? I am still a bit confused by all of this.

Arden is now 4 months old. This seems like a big milestone where she is exiting the newborn stage. She is awake a lot more during the day, and last week she started going to Mother's Day Out at a nearby church on Tuesdays. She is already growing up. To commemorate this milestone, I decided to buy Arden her first bow. I had shied away from bows until now. It's not that I'm ethically opposed to them or anything, but I'm just so practical that I really didn't see the point since she has no hair. I didn't want anything that was "fussy" when I could barely get the basics like feeding and bathing accomplished. Now, after my first two nights of solid sleep, I felt empowered to branch out. I walked into The Toggery boutique and got a lesson on how to attach bows to a stretchy headband. The nice saleslady enjoyed teaching me how to layer bows (layering? who knew?) and the different ways they can be used on headbands, with ponytail bands, or in hair alone. I left the store with my purchase and felt much more prepared to mother a girl.

Arden looks adorable in her headband with little bow. For now, she is happily leaving it on her head, and I can enjoy feeling that I've accomplished the first rite of passage for moms of girls. Thankfully, I can worry about braiding hair later!

Now I lay me down to sleep (or not)

Sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture around the world. It was a tactic favored by the KGB and the Japanese in POW camps during World War II. Victims would be kept up for days on end, either for punishment or for the surrender of wanted information. Symptoms of sleep deprivation include irritability, clumsiness, lack of concentration, memory loss, blurred vision, alternations in appetite, tiredness, headache, and depression. In severe or extended cases, even psychosis or hallucinations can occur. In the popular movie The Bourne Supremacy, agent Jason Bourne was forced to stay awake for multiple days as part of the brainwashing to transform him into an assassin. Even in real life, sleep deprivation has been in the media recently. Actor Heath Ledger was interviewed shortly before his death and complained of problems sleeping while enacting the role of The Joker in the new Batman film. He stated that he could only sleep a couple of hours nightly, and that it had been a problem for some time. A few months later, he was found dead in his apartment from an drug overdose due to the interaction of several prescription drugs, including sleep aids. Doctors ruled the overdose accidental and a likely result of attempting to induce sleep.

Unfortunately, I have always needed a lot of sleep to function well. My ideal night is to sleep uninterrupted from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. -- a full 9 hours. If I get much less than 6 hours per night on a regular basis, I suffer from irritability, clumsiness, forgetfulness, and a chronic headache. It seems to be genetic, as my entire family seems to require a lot of sleep. When I married Stuart, it was a shock to find that he was an early riser, and I enjoyed sleeping until 10 a.m. on Saturday mornings! Well . . . all that changed when I became a mother.

I can count on one hand all the Saturday mornings that I have slept past 7:30 a.m. in the past six years, and now I have been up in the middle of the night for Arden's feedings for the past 16 weeks and 2 days. That's 114 days with interrupted sleep! Yes, it is beginning to take its toll on me, and I have found myself going through Excedrin bottles every two weeks to dull my chronic headache. I can't remember where I put anything, and sometimes I probably shouldn't be behind the wheel!

Another mom whom I know has told me about how she requires very little sleep -- only 4-5 hours per night. She routinely stays up until 1 or 2 a.m., while her kids are all sleeping, and she can still manage to get them to school on time. She cleans her house, makes handmade cards, scrapbooks, and sews handmade Halloween costumes in the middle of the night. If I were ever envious of someone's ability, it would be this! Ahh, to imagine what I could get done with an extra 4 hours per day while my children were simultaneously asleep! I could scrub my baseboards, purge all our files, plan our menu beyond one day, organize the garage, read my stack of unread novels, or start Arden's baby book before she begins kindergarten. Unfortunately, my body won't let me. The thought of scrapbooking at midnight right now is about as appealing as outpatient surgery!

We hope Arden will soon settle into a routine where she isn't waking to eat in the middle of the night. Every night, I pray that the baby monitor will remain silent and not wake me with screams of urgency at 3 or 4 a.m. I tried letting her "cry it out" this morning when she awoke at 3 a.m., but after 40 minutes, she was still going full force, so I gave up and fed her. She was happy after her feeding, but then I have developed the annoying problem of having insomnia after I am woken up. Arden crashes back into a delicious baby slumber, but I am left staring at my digital alarm clock as it turns 5:20, then 5:45, then 6:10, and then time to rise for the day before I ever get back to sleep.

There is one benefit to my current sleep deprivation: I am ready to be held hostage by the enemy and forced to endure sleep deprivation torture without revealing any top secret information about national security. If our government needs me, I can serve; I've been practicing every night.