Just a few notes

So, Rowen and I are hanging out at home, and she came and brought me a fruit stick (think of a thick, rectangle shaped fruit roll up). It says on the wrapper that it's made from 68% real juices and fruit. As I was opening it, Rowen saw the number eight and said, "Look Mommy, there's an eight. That's why I say yes on 8, cause I love fruit snacks." It took me a couple of minutes to stop laughing. Oh, the simple joy of being a child.

We've been doing lots of pumpkin painting lately. We've painted pumpkins twice at Erika's and once at the park. And Rowen has painted every pumpkin purple. She just covers the entire pumpkin purple. It's funny. I'm just glad her favorite color isn't pink. Or yellow.


Painting at the park with MOMS Club.



And we went to two Trunk or Treat's this weekend, one for our own ward, and one at the Wilson's. They were both lots of fun. At the Wilson's I had the great time of watching a bounce house with a slide collapse on my kids when someone accidentally unplugged it during the costume parade. Thank goodness Amy and Jim were watching the kids and were very quick acting. They held up the bounce house enough and Jim was able to pull Logan, Rowen and Cayden out.


Rowen, George and I at the Raymond Ward Trunk or Treat


Rowen and the Rogers - I love their costumes!


The only pictures Logan would let me take of him.


A princess can never have too many spider rings...


This is the bounce house that collapsed on the kids!

We got to see the Gregsons, briefly, but we enjoyed it. It's so easy to just sit and talk with them. And the conversations are always interesting (at least to me). Whenever we see them, we wish Utah and California were a lot closer (like neighboring cities).

That's all that's been going on the last week or so. The last eight weeks of the year will be pretty busy, with 2 major holidays, three family birthdays, our anniversary and hosting MOMS Club field trips. Before I know it, I'm sure it will be January 2009.

~jenn

Ok, I did so well at posting in September, but now October is running away with me. I was trying to write my blurb for the MOMS Club newsletter a couple of days ago, but I ended up just writing a list of all the things for which I'm grateful. It didn't really seem to fit for the MOMS Club anymore, but I though I'd post it here, so I can remember this on days when it feels like the world is caving in on me.

So many days I spend thinking about my wish list, or my list of things that I need. I am glad there is a time of year that reminds me that my longest list of all is my list of things to be thankful for.

I am thankful for two kids that, while not perfect, are perfectly suited to me. I am thankful for a safe place to raise my kids, where I don't have to fear that every parked car is a deadly bomb or that guerrillas will sneak into my home to steal my son from me. I am thankful that when I am going through a rough time, and I can't stop the tears from spilling down my cheeks, that I have friends who hug me, with a tear in their own eye, who don't need to tell me that everything is going to be all right, because they help me feel it. I am thankful for a little girl whose favorite thing to do when she is sitting in a shopping cart is to hug me, smile and say that I'm her best best mom in the whole world. I am thankful for a husband who does the dishes every night without complaint and who loves me even when I'm running late. I am thankful for a beautiful planet on which to live, with views that dazzle my eyes. I am thankful for a family that, after 35 years, misses me when I am away, for their endless love and support. I am thankful for a husband who has taught me that a wall of shame can be proof of why he loves me. I am thankful for a knowledge of the eternity that lies ahead, that I don't have to be perfect today, or even tomorrow. I am thankful for the love of my Father in Heaven, that has filled my heart with such joy that I ache for those who go through this life without a sure knowledge of the truth.

There is a book that says that the sea "is nothing but a library of all the tears in history" and that the characters of the story "let their sadness join the sadness of the world". But the sea is not just a catalogue of all the sorrow the world contains. There are tears of happiness and gratitude mingled with the sadness, and that is what makes a life. This life is difficult, but as I learn and grow, I am grateful just for the opportunity to live.

It's October already!

I can't believe the end of the year is fast approaching. But, here it is, all the same. We had a fun time at the Elder's Quorum activity last night. The kids just wanted to play pool or ping pong the whole time, but Logan ate his whole dinner, fish and rice and tomatoes, so I was glad. Rowen drank juice and ate a roll, of course.

The Dodgers won yesterday, which is great. But tonight, they face Zambrano, so we'll see what happens. It could be the no-hitter Zambrano, or it could be the Zambrano of the last two weeks, with an 18+ ERA. I'm voting for the latter. And Billingsly has better numbers than Zambrano, so it definitely will be another good game.

I can't believe the Angels lost to Boston last night for only the second time ALL SEASON!!!! What were they thinking? If Boston makes it past the Angels, I'm going to cry.

Well, the kids are in the bath, it's time for scrubbins. I hope this hot weather cools down soon. 99 degrees in October is not appealing. It's miserable. It's been hot all summer, we're ready for Fall, well, as much of a Fall we can get in So Cal.

~jenn

Pneumonia!

Well, I guess it wasn't just Rowen's typical illness. She started having breathing problems about 10 am. I tried giving her the inhaler before taking Logan to school, but she didn't want to cooperate. We came home after taking Logan, and she just wanted to lay in my arms. She kept trying to go to sleep, but every 20-30 minutes, she'd start screaming about her stomach. Every time she did, I'd put her on the potty, but she only peed a couple of times. I couldn't get her to eat or even drink anything. By noon, I tried calling around to see if anyone could pick Logan up from school if I took Rowen to the ER. I couldn't get a hold of anyone, so I made her a doctor appointment for 2:45, after Logan gets out of school. Lorraine Spano called me at 1:45 to see I wanted her to pick up Logan, and she said she would keep him for me so that I could take Rowen to the doctor early and not have to have Logan with us. That was really nice, because we ended up at the doctor for 2 1/2 hours.

Rowen's oxygen level in her blood was low, she was breathing too fast, her heart rate was fast and any time she tried to breathe too deep, she started coughing. Then she threw up the three sips of apple juice I had finally gotten her to drink. So the doctor gave her a breathing treatment with an extra strong derivative of albuterol and a steroid, pulmicort. Poor little girl fell asleep 2 minutes into the breathing treatment. She was exhausted. Then I had to take her downstairs for x-rays. She started to perk up while we were waiting to get the x-ray. She didn't even get scared and was so cooperative. She thought it was funny to see a picture of her bones. The x-ray showed some build up in her lower right lung, so it looks like she has pneumonia. So now, we get to do breathing treatments every 4 hours for a week as well as antibiotics. Our kitchen looks like a pharmacy. Now at least we have a nebulizer at home. Jen Wilson said that the doctors told her that whenever Cayden has breathing problems, if she gives her a breathing treatment right away, then that will help prevent the pneumonia. Cayden's had pneumonia twice! And the stomach pain was most likely caused by the pneumonia, it was pain radiating down from her lung.

I'm so glad her inhaler didn't help yesterday and that I took her into the doctor. Poor thing, I just wish I had taken her in earlier. She started running a fever yesterday evening, which the doctor said points to Rowen having bacterial pneumonia instead of viral. That's good, because viruses don't respond to antibiotics. And it figures, that Rowen loves "drinking medicines", but her antibiotic tastes horrible. When she woke up at 12:45 last night and her fever had gotten worse, I decided to give her some Motrin. She had fallen back asleep and I had to sit her up to drink it. She did, with her eyes still closed, and as soon as she drank it, she opened her eyes and smiled. She liked that "drinking medecine". Kids are so cute and silly at the same time.

Well, I hear her waking up now, and it's time for another breathing treatment. We also have to go back to the doctor at 9:30 this morning, so it's time for me to start moving.

~Jenn

Poor Rowen

Just when she was starting to get the hang of sleeping without a pacie, she came down with her typical illness, stuffy nose and deep cough. So now it's back on the medication and cough syrup. Ugh, I hate giving my kids medication all the time. And then this morning she woke up screaming that her stomach hurt. She's been drinking a lot of milk the last few days, I wonder if she could be lactose intolerant like me. Maybe I'll try her on soy milk and see if that helps.

This morning, I have a park day, but then I also have Rowen signed up for story time at the library. So I'll have to leave the park day after only 30 minutes. I hope someone else will have shown up before then, so I can at least tell someone why I'm leaving.

One more pacie note, Rowen found another pacie in her room yesterday, and she didn't once try to put it in her mouth. She immediately brought it to me and said that we have to put it in a package because there were more babies in the world that are crying. She is so sweet.

Logan keeps getting better and better at soccer. I hope that by the end of the season, he actually likes it and has a good time. Also, his teacher said that his writing isn't behind at all and that he does a good job writing his letters. It's just his coloring that he doesn't do very well. But there are other kids that she says do the same thing. He just scribbles over the picture, until it is all filled in. So we're going to have to work on that. But I'm glad to hear that his writing is just fine. I really don't care in particular if he never likes to color. I know it has to do with fine motor skills, but if he can write his letters, that covers those skills already.

Oh, and I just watched a really good movie yesterday. It's called the Wind That Shakes the Barley. It's about two brothers during the Irish fight for freedom from the Brits during the early 1920s. It's fictional, but I bet there are thousands of families who went through nearly the same thing. I can't watch too many films about that time period too close together. It always riles me up against Great Britain and I hate them and the US for not pressuring GB to stop the basic genocide that they were committing for hundreds of years. But the IRA isn't the solution. They turned commie way back in the twenties and they lost focus of the true reason for the fight. It wasn't enough to fight for Irish freedom from Britain, they turned everyone who didn't agree with their extreme leftist views (like no private property, everything controlled by the state and doled out as seen fit) into enemies and sadly, began fighting the Irish instead of the British. Fortunately, people who stood in the middle eventually won over most of Ireland, except for the north, of course, and so now the IRA is back to being a small underground group that supports left wing rebels around the world, predominantly in South America.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. It always takes a couple of days for me to get my balance back after watching movies or reading books about the British oppression of the Irish. If I had posted yesterday, I also would have ranted about the Catholic church's role in the oppression and how they purposely and willingly kept the people downtrodden and docile so as to keep them Catholics. Oops, here I go again. I'd better go start getting Logan ready for school so I don't end up working myself into more anger.

~jenn

Soccer success

Logan had his second soccer game today. The teams were much better matched. We actually scored a few goals, and I think we either tied the other team, or we were only short by one goal. But the important part is that Logan actually paid attention to the game. He ran much better today, kicked the ball a few times and didn't even cry once. So it was a marked improvement. He seemed to enjoy it more, also. We've told him, the only rules are to try his best and have fun. So, while I think he still could try harder, he did a great job. We were all so proud of him. I think playing with Uncle Brandon in the back yard at Grandma's house last night was a big help.

Today, while I was driving Logan home from soccer pictures, he asked when we were going to go to Utah next. I told him we would have to wait and see, because he has school now. Then he said that the people he wants to see the most are Uncles Brandon and Kolby. And then he remembered Dan and Rachel, too. I asked him if he would like to live there, and he asked if we would never come back here. I said we would come visit, but that Grandma and Grandpa would probably get a new house near us in Utah, too. Then he said he would live in Utah. He asked me if I knew why he wanted to live in Utah, and I guessed correctly. He said he wants to live with the snow. He thinks Christmas would be really fun if there was snow. Then he asked why Jesus just didn't make it snow in California. I thought that was a neat question for him to ask. It just shows all that he really does learn and remember from primary and from talks that we have at home. He knows that Heavenly Father and Jesus are responsible for all that happens here on earth. It was such a little comment, but it made me really happy, as a parent. I wish every day were filled with such moments.

She did it!

Rowen did it, she gave her pacies to the pacie fairy. At the last minute, she didn't want to put them in the envelope, but she did. Then she helped me place them on the back porch (we didn't want anyone to steal the present that would be left for her in exchange for the pacies). She had a difficult time going to sleep. Finally, I brought her in bed with me while Steve worked on some songs on the computer. It took Rowen almost an hour to fall asleep, which she did holding my hand. It was so sweet, but I felt very sad for her. I remember having to give up a baby blanket I had had for years. When it was finally in pieces and I had to get rid of it, I cried and cried. And I was seven years old.

After a whole day of her not having her pacies, I wonder if we did the right thing. It took over an hour for her to go to sleep for her nap, again, laying in bed with me, holding hands. She didn't scream or ask for her pacies back, she just quietly cried, sometimes putting her hand over her eyes. When she wasn't looking, I cried with her. I want her to grow up, but I hate feeling like I'm rushing her. I know this will be better for her in the long run, but it breaks my heart to see her feel so lost trying to sleep without her pacifiers. I'm very glad Logan never liked pacifiers. If we are ever blessed with one more little one, I definitely will try to forego the whole pacie thing. It's just not worth it.