Alas! I've Been Diagnosed! It's OCD!

You all know how much I absolutely LOVE being pregnant. And I'm sure you've all heard the news lately about the woman who recently delivered octuplets. She already had 6 children at home before becoming pregnant this last time. According to her mother, she's been obsessed with having babies since she was a teenager. That is soooo me! I had a babydoll up until I was 12 years old. Don't laugh- I've never told anyone that before! Well, this incerpt from Yahoo News explains my issue in detail... "Little psychological research has been conducted on the reasons some mothers seem hooked on repeated pregnancies. David Diamond, a co-director for the Center for Reproductive Psychology in San Diego, said mothers can be drawn to repeat pregnancies for a number of reasons, with some finding the experience so satisfying they choose to become surrogates. Diane G. Sanford, a psychologist and author specializing in women's reproductive mental health, said while she doesn't know much about Nadya Suleman's (the mother of the octuplets)background, women that have obsessive-compulsive disorder can become fixated on different obsessions." I always knew I was somewhat Type A with a little OCD mixed in there. I always thought that I kept it well hidden though. Perhaps not. How could one possibly keep 5 kids hidden! Perhaps, my having 5 babies (and wanting more) is a symptom that my mental illness has gone too far. I can no longer publicly hide it! Oh, and the surrogacy thing- well, I JUST told Miguel last nigt that I would SO want to be a surrogate. He wasn't all that amused! How gratifying- to carry a life and to eventually hand that precious gift over to a deserving soul- what an amazing feeling that must be. Oh, and the money would be just an added bonus.

Wordless Wednesday

Photo Contest 2

Okay, so I didn't win the other contest. Call me determined but I'm trying again. This week's theme is JOY. This is Elizabeth in a recent trip to Big Bear. This was our first ride in Papa's boat. You can see the JOY and excitement in her face. Get used to seeing these photo contest posts everybody- cuz I'm gonna keep 'em up til I win! Hehe.

http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/2008/06/week-3-kids.html

Matthew Update

Yesterday's appt. went pretty well. His elbow joint is somewhat swollen still but at least it didn't do what the Dr. feared and pop back out from all the swelling and scar tissue. The weekend splint must have worked. Some x-rays were repeated and he was put into a cast. Thursday we have an appt. with another Orthopaedic Dr. (Loma Linda) for a 2nd opinion. Until then, who knew what fun a black 'sharpie' marker could bring! The kids have tagged Bubba's cast all up!

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

"Children, out of simplicity, sometimes speak more wisely than their elders."

An alternate title to this post would be: Bible 101

One of my favorite things to do is to listen to my kids conversations when they think I'm not listening! The other day Emily caught Elizabeth in a lie and kindly reminded her of one of the Ten Commandments. Here's how it went:

Elizabeth: No, I didn't!

Emily: Yes, you did!

Elizabeth: No, I did NOT!

Emily:Ooooh, you're lying! That means you're not listening to God! Don't you remember the Ten Commandments, THOU shall not lie!

I couldn't help but crack up laughing. And yes, she said "THOU." Too cute!

Well today... while casually listening in on another conversation, I overheard Elizabeth give Emily a taste of her own medicine. She was explaining to Emily that she needed to listen to whatever she (Elizabeth) tells her to do because after all- the Bible says to 'respect your elders.' I think the next time Ms. Elizabeth disobeys mom, I'll have to remind her of this!

I'm happy to report that the Wednesday night Bible study classes that they've been attending is paying off! I'm glad my children are learning the Word of God but I never thought they'd use it against each other! Whatever works!

Bubba's Broken Arm, Momma's Broken Heart

Okay, so it's not broken, it's dislocated, but the 'broken' worked better in the title!

Matthew update: First, let me rewind to about a week and 1/2 ago. Matthew (being the accident-prone, heart attack giver, BOY that he is) was jumping on mommy's bed and got his foot caught in the blankets causing him to fall on his left arm. An x-ray confirmed that it was dislocated. The (not very friendly with absolutely no bedside manner) Dr. came into the room and proceeded to reduce the injured arm/elbow back into place. Over the next few days the swelling and pain continued and never completely went away. After speaking to the same Dr.'s office, I was advised that the swelling and pain following such an injury is completely normal and not to be alarmed. Oh, and of course I must mention that I specifically asked if I should follow up with his primary care Dr. and I was told that the arm was okay now and there was no need to do that. Well, eventually Matthew got to using the arm more and on MOST days had us convinced that he was getting better. I say most days because we saw that he still guarded the injured arm and favored the rt. arm more. We also tested him every now and then asking him to turn his arm this way or that way and each time he grimaced when attempting to go 'palm up.' So we did what any other parent would do and went to get a 2nd opinion. That was yesterday- and what a LONG day that was!

After a 2nd set of x-rays a (new and much nicer) Dr. confirmed that his arm was STILL dislocated and never really fixed! Can you imagine the (interior) rage that both dad and I had at that moment? Can you imagine my poor tough little guy roughing through a dislocated elbow going on 11 days now? Can you imagine the mommy guilt I had thinking I should have followed my instinct a long time ago?!

We were immediately sent to the kindest Orthopaedic Dr. who planned to do the following.... #1) try to reduce the arm again in his office aside from the extreme swelling if that didn't work then on to #2) go to the E.R. and do the same thing with a little anesthesia and/or if neither worked #3) SURGERY! I was kicked out of the room while dad and the Dr. worked on Bubba. It was one of the worst mommy moments ever! I could hear my poor sons screams and cries coming from the room. I was in tears, along with all of the nurses trying to comfort me. I did what any other helpless mother would do and I called mom and dad. My parents came down at the speed of lightning to be with us! Unlce Joseph watched the 3 older girls!

After reducing his arm (the right way) for the 2nd time, more x-rays were done. It confirmed that it was ALMOST perfect now, but not 100%. Matthew is in a splint now and on Tylenol w/ codeine. We'll go back to see the Orthopaedic Dr. on Monday. He's hoping the swelling will go down and allow the bone to fall back into the joint in a more perfect position. If so, they will cast him in an effort to keep the joint from being used so much as it gets used to being back in the normal position. So, please pray that all goes well on Monday and that no further treatment is needed, as this is my ONLY son and I do want him to have full use of all extremities because after all he's my future sports player - I'm already his #1 fan!

Yesterday I learned two things...

I have the toughest little boy ever ( I kinda already knew that)

and 'trust your mommy instincts.'

I will keep you all up to date on what happens, please pray for him!

Great Comments!

Ha! It looks like my threats have worked! I'm going to be threatening a lot more often now. Thanks to all of those who have commented. I (or better yet, WE) have so proved my lovely husband wrong, haven't we? Keep the comments coming. I enjoy reading each and every one of them. Now, off to the Dr. to have a dislocated elbow rechecked. Can you guess which kid?!

Photo Contest

Lately, one of my fave things to do is take pics. I'm gettn pretty good at it too, at least I think so, lol. This week I'm entering an I Heart Faces Photo Contest. This is Emily, a face I think worthy of an entry in the contest. I'm an amateur at the whole photo thing but my kids are giving me plenty of practice. Especially this kid! I bring out the camera and she's all over it!

Here's the link if you want to enter or to just check out the other entries:

http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Today is Nana's birthday. Happy Birthday to the awesomest Nana (and mom) out there! We are blessed that you are ours!

Leave a Comment

Please.... don't be shy. Go ahead and leave a comment. My lovely husband was looking over our blog today and felt the need to point out that we pretty much have no readers!!! Thanks, babe. I quickly proclaimed, "it's because my LARGE group of blog readers don't know how to leave a comment and some of them are pretty shy too!" I know I have readers because I hear the sweet VERBAL comments all the time from you all. Help me prove my 'NOT SO SHY' husband wrong and comment ALREADY, pretty please!!! If you're not sure how, just look at the bottom of whatever current post you may get the urge to comment on and look for the big fat "0 comments." Click there and wallah! You'll be directed to a little pop-up that allows you to say whatever your little heart may so desire at the time. Just be sure it's PG-13 as my kids like to read this blog too! Hmmm, wonder how much I can pay them to comment (under an alias name, of course)! And you must know that I'm normally NOT a hostile person and I NEVER threaten people but...

We're Moving!!!

I'm just giving you all a head's up... we'll be moving soon. I'll give you our exact address just as soon as I find out what it is. I do know that it's a little further north (Sonoma) than where we already live. You see, we'll be winning the new HGTV Dream Home pictured here because I have been entering daily under both my name and Miguels! If you want to give it a try, go ahead, but I'm telling you right now, I'M gonna win! Isn't it beautiful. Don't worry, you'll be invited to the first party just as soon as we get settled in.

Oh, and look at my kitchen, isn't it just dreamy?! Maybe it will inspire me to cook more for my husband and kids! Nah, I wouldn't want to get it dirty!

Train Days

We spent yesterday at the San Bernardino County Museum. They had a special train exhibit and we all know how much Matthew LOVES trains. We even brought our cousin along. Poor daddy had to work. Thanks to Papa for finding this event for us. Check out our day!

They're coming!!!

Megan's two bottom teeth that is. All of my babies get their teeth pretty late and can't seem to grow some decent hair until about 2 yrs. So, I wasn't suprised that my lil toofless 9 month old baby is just now starting to sprout some pearly whites. You can't quite see them here in this pic, but I took a peek inside her mouth and saw 2 white specks. She's had fever for the past 2 nights, a runny nose, and has been somewhat irritable. But... at least she's achieved 1 of her goals! Now if I can only get the other kids to work as hard at attaining their goals! Oh, and any suggestions for growing that hair??? I want her to look more like a baby GIRL! And now for some Q&A.... Q: What can be worse than teething? A: A big brother who just doesn't understand that you're not feeling up to par and you just wanna be left alone! Poor Megan!!!

Off-track Goals

We're off track til February and now that the holidays are over with mom doesn't want to hear any "I'm bored" comments coming from the little ones. As a kid myself, I remember my dad making my brothers and I write down a list of goals that we wanted to achieve. So I'm now making my kids do the same, they can thank their Papa later for this, hehe. These are the goals that they've come up with: Brianna: Learn to sew Learn to type (fast) Elizabeth: Learn to sew Read more books Emily: Learn to tie shoes (She hopes to gain membership into the 'Shoe-Tying Club' at school) Learn to ride a bike Matthew: Bug sisters (Just kidding, he's a tad to young to understand the goal concept) But if he was going to choose just one I would hope it would be to stop getting hurt! (This kid is accident prone lately, did you notice the mark under his eye in the last post) Megan: Grow teeth Grow some more hair Daddy: Please mommy Teach kids some Spanish Please mommy some more Mommy: Teach kids some Spanish Have 5 more babies within the next 6-8 years Disclaimer: The above blog post contains (baby) jokes that may not be funny to some (ie- grandparents) but sure as heck are funny to the author. As a general rule of thumb, you may want to take 1, maybe 2, okay- perhaps 3, small baby aspirin prior to reading. Hmmm, perhaps I should have posted this at the beginning, oops!

Windy Days

Yesterday was such a windy day. It's one of the few drawbacks to living where we do; we have to put up with days like this.

Mom forced us to stay inside all day in fear of us blowing away or Matthew's asthma starting up again. Dad was at work and we were bored. So we did some piano homework.

Then we baked with absolutely no help from mom! Brianna did just fine giving orders and the cinammon bread turned about just about perfect.

While we waited for it to be done, Elizabeth read to the dog (she loves reading and will read to anyone who will listen) and Brianna started her typing lessons. Last week the kids established some goals they would like to work towards while they are off track- one of Bri's goals was learning how to type fast like mom. Mom will write more about our goals in another post.

Before we knew it, the bread was done. We enjoyed our dish while listening to some Speed Spanish tapes (thanks to Papa) ! And yes, I said 'tapes' as in cassette tapes! I guess some people still have those things around! And all of this on a FRIDAY night! Those 'going out days' are long, long gone :(

Favorite Christmas Gift

I have to admit, my kids' favorite Christmas gift didn't come from Mom or Dad or not even Santa despite all of the money he/we spent. It came from Nana who was inspired by all the volunteering she does at the kid's school. She wanted to give them something homemade where she put a lot of thought into it. Because my kids love arts and crafts, it was their most favorite gift this year. Check out Pottery Barn's version of the gift at $49.00...

And being the savvy shopper that Nana is, I'm sure her version was much less....

I do have to say that they play with this ingenious gift everyday and sometimes twice a day!

And I can't end this post without commenting on what MY favorite gift was, I'll give you a hint..... It has something to do with a favorite film of the 80's in which the main character's favorite candy was Reese's Pieces... have you guessed it yet?

It's funny how the smallest gifts can mean the most, holding E.T. in my hands brought back so many memories. I'm sure my mom and dad spent a few pretty pennies bidding on this lil guy (thank goodness for Ebay) but the gift of a childhood treasure is priceless. Thanks again mom and dad for giving me a small, pricy- yet tangible- treasure from my childhood. Oh, did I mention that I got the movie too! I ended the night with letting the kids watch the movie the good 'ol fashioned way, just the way I used to as a kid... in mom and dad's bed that is! The looks on their faces were heartwarming and so were the giggles that could be heard... I pictured me and my big brother Joseph laying there watching it together, life flies by.... one day the kid is me, the next day I'M THE PARENT! Scary!