Back to being me!

Mack isn't around all the time anymore. He's been working on and off for the last couple years now. He really likes the security thing but it's really unstable in our area. He got a new position with MUCH more stable hours and comparable pay that isn't in the security field. I'm so glad he's not home all the time anymore, not to mention that we'll have extra money again. I can't be me when he's around. I get lazy and cranky. Since he's been away I have been early for all my appointments, the house stays clean and the kids don't fight or mess up around the house as much.

My girls are HOME! No more school, I couldn't take it anymore. I feel so much better, the stress was killing me! I missed them so much and I was really tired of feeling like the school owned my children. I found the work they did before they started school. Amanda has lost so much of the phonics she tried so hard to learn. Frankie hasn't improved but she hasn't lost any ground either. Now I know for sure I haven't done anything wrong aside from put her in school that is. I'll keep letting her go at her own pace. She's really interested in history and geography right now so I guess that is where the focus will be. We made a really cool time line the other night and she found a history of the world sticker book. She wants to put the things we read about in the sticker book on our time line. It should be a fun project. She is also into sight words. I ordered Picture Me Reading a couple years ago and the words are pictographs. She really likes those and she has a thing for flashcards. She put them some in the pockets of my pocket chart and is now 'teaching' the words to Zachary. They both seem to enjoy it. Amanda is all into writing stories. She spends most of her days asking me how to spell things. I put all the words she asks me to spell up on the wall so she can see them and doesn't have to interrupt her writing to ask me again. She wants to learn to write in cursive so I'll order her a Handwriting Without Tears book. Their approach is easy and not too stressful. I think it'll be fun for her. Chris isn't into anything right now. He still loves his rats but isn't reading much on them. He's just enjoying holding them and talking t them. Zach loves to have books read to him so I'm either reading to him or his Tag is. I really like the Tag system and so does he. I didn't think he would. He had it for 3 months before he decided he liked it. He's also hunting unicorns. It's really cute. I promised to build him a cave and buy him a bunch of toys and food for it if he finds one. No luck yet, but he hasn't given up! Yesterday we had a great day at Morton's Arboretum. I got teased about the girls being at group instead of school again but this time they WERE at school. Everyone welcomed them back officially. It was a great feeling!

Aaron had his 2 month check up today. I went because I had planned on getting the newborn screening redone and forgot the card so it's still not done. I will get around to it one of these days. He's getting so big! He's 24 inches long and 13 pounds 7 ounces. He's grown out of his 0-3 months clothes but he still wears them around the house. If he gets much taller he won't be able to, not to mention they are getting pretty snug.

I'm getting back into bulk cooking slowly. I made a HUGE pot of meat sauce yesterday before and after group. I browned the meat before we left and finished it when I got home. It tastes wonderful! I thought I burned it. Nicky took a spill while it was cooking and I forgot it was on. In the end Nicky was fine, though he did limp a little for the rest of the night, and so was my sauce.

Anger doesn't touch how I'm feeling!

I finally got tired of the school. I had planned to write a withdrawal letter for my girls and mail it today. They went in for half the day. When Frankie got there she was in tears because she didn't want to be there. By the time she got home she was saying how much she LOVES school and wants to go next year. What happened here? Way to manipulate my kid. I'm not pulling her if she doesn't want me to but now I don't think she knows what she wants. I wish I hadn't sent her at all. Now my letter includes one child. Amanda is %100 sure she doesn't want to go anymore and she won't be.

On a better note, it's 80 degrees today and we're heading out! I'm taking them to the part until my Friend is done gardening and we'll meet her after that. We will also try to stop by the county clerk to show them the baby and sign his birth certificate.

What did I do?!?

I seem to have eaten something that does not agree with Aaron. His newborn acne had finally cleared and I was admiring his nice moist soft skin only to wake yesterday and find him completely broken out. I have no clue what I could have eaten to cause that so now this pretty complexion is back to how it was except it's not just his face this time but his whole body! Joy. I did have a slice of provolone on a sub, I wonder if that did it? If so, that really makes me worried. His milk sensitivity would be much worse than Nicky's. When Nick was small I would just avoid milk and ice cream but I ate cheese is small amounts. It would cause him to cry but it didn't physically affect him the way it has with Aaron. I guess I will have to cut ALL dairy. His poop is also green again which is another sign of a food sensitivity. I think I'll keep a food diary and cut the dairy. Hopefully we'll see some improvement. My poor guy, I feel awful :(

Party! Super short post.

My aunt's birthday party was last night. The children had a wonderful time! It took me all day to get them ready only for not to take a single picture. Hopefully, some one will send me a few of the pictures that were taken.

Typical

I start a blog, write all the time for a few day and then just stop. I won't let this blog die. So, update time! On April 9 Aaron went back to the doctor's office. I need a referral for his newborn screening. The appointment was pointless. I didn't even need a referral, she just told me to take the card to the lab. I am glad I got to see what his weight is. It's sort of difficult to get a good weight on my fish scale since he's such a wiggler now. He was up to 11 pounds 13 ounces. He's getting so big! His thrush left but I don't think we treated it for long enough. He's still getting spots on his inner lips. She told me not to worry about his weird breathing that, it may have just been a fluke. I don't agree, he had it happen again a couple days ago. It worries me but it doesn't seem to hurt him so I'm not sure how I should handle it.

We went on our first outdoor outing of the year yesterday! We went to Cosley Zoo. It was so nice to be doing something I enjoy. I thought we'd leave quickly because it was a bit nippy and I was worried about Aaron but it started to warm up and we stayed for 3 hours. The kids had a great time and I got to hang out with the other moms and chat. Quite nice. My back was fine up until the end when Aaron's weight started bothering me. The ultimate baby wrap is pretty good if I could hold him for so long without feeling a thing. I don't like the way that it gives after about an hour. It's so stretchy that baby starts to move downward really slowly in it. It feels like it need to be tightened or something. I really want to get a Moby wrap. Now that I know how to nurse in a wrap I'm very excited to get another.

I converted the empty tiny bedroom we have into a food storage room. I'm not sure how long that will last as it seems like a waste of a room. I may switch the game closet with the storage room which sounds like a great idea now that I think about it! I could set up table and chairs in the little room for games and stuff.

The girls went to the dentist on Tuesday and the boys are going today. I think I'm staying home. They are just going for a cleaning but Zach may have a couple tiny cavities. If he does, I hope he cooperates with getting them filled. Amanda had to go because she had a really big abscess on her gum but there was no cavity in sight. I wonder if the one she got filled a few years back wasn't done properly.

Zach is really enjoying his new phonics program. I don't push him and it's super easy for him. He asks to do work all the time and now I have something for him to do that makes me feel good too. He does a page of math and a page of phonics. Usually that's enough 'work' for him but sometimes he'll sit there and practice his numbers and letters. He's quite motivated. The first time he did it it was funny. I don't think he knew I was serious and started talking about some movie, lol. He seems to get it now.

Have I mentioned I HATE, HATE that stupid school? My girls have another full MONTH and then some before summer. I thought school was out in May. Some idiot that works there loves to yell at them and call them names. If he does this one more time, I'm pulling them. The thought of that makes me mad enough to see red.

We got new pets! I finally got fish for my tank. We have three female mollies, a tetra and a platy. If these fish do well, we'll add a few more. I also plan on getting some aquarium plants soon. The hood seems to be broken so I'll have to replace that too. I tried buying a new bulb but it didn't work. Chris is now reading about pet rats. I got two from a pet store but it hasn't been 24 hours and I know they have a respiratory infection and that they aren't very nice. Lesson learned. These will go back, hopefully I'll get a refund if not it's a $8 loss. No big deal. I found a breeder in Chicago so we'll go pick up a pair of female rats from her.

Chris has been invited to another birthday party. So much for homeschooled kids not being social. This one is really cool. They meet and my friends house and then go to the downtown area of her city. They will have a scavenger hunt in the shops(his mom is going to be talking to the merchants to let them know to expect the kids). It's not adult supervised but I think they'll be fine between the 8 of them and the area isn't huge anyway. After that they head over for pizza. The party is about 5 hours total. He's so excited about this. Mostly the hanging out downtown without adults part, lol.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

How could I forget?!? My grandmother is turning 83 today!

Happy birthday Grandma!

Ramblings

Spring has not sprung. It's still cold here and we're missing our trip to Morton Arboretum. Boo. We did have fun at group yesterday though. I really like the church where we meet. The kids put on an impromptu play, the big kids had robotics class. I wish Chris would participate more(though I'm not sure why, it's his choice). He doesn't really like it much and usually cuts out. Yesterday he spend the whole time building a lego ship. We had chips, guacamole, fruit, and granola bars for lunch. I LOVE the guacamole from Whole Foods. It's more expensive than should be legal but it's so good. I'm going to try to match the recipe today. After all, the ingredients are listed.

Now to talk about my newborn. Rambling was indeed a great title. He's so sweet. I'm still staring at this perfect little creature. It amazes me that I grew him and am still growing him all by myself and he's healthy and thriving. Many thanks to my husband for the cell he donated to me for this little miracle ;-) This child has eyes for only me. He stares at me all the time, it's as if I'm the only person in existence in his eyes. My voice soothes him. I'm in awe of him. It's amazing to me that I still feel this way about my newborns after 6 kids. It never gets old with soft, sweet new babies.

Now, more rambling! I just bought a math set for the girls, since math is my hang up and I simply can't see me unschooling it My next step in pulling them from the jail they attend each day. They are having such fun this week! They will be so sad next when they have to return. This topic is becoming the topic of several mini arguments with my husband. He thinks they should be home now. While I agree in my heart I think that logically, it's still best they finish out the year. I'm not how this will end up just yet. We'll see.

Again about the baby. I have all items for the newborn screening. I started yesterday but he was crying so hard! My poor baby. The poke didn't phase him at all. It was the squeezing and holding his foot hostage that bothered him the most. He has this odd reaction after hard crying. The small amount of information I've found refers to what he does as a breathing spasm. I suspect this is just what the moms with this issue have started calling it. I haven't been able to find this listed anywhere as an actual medical term. He does this thing that I did as a child if I cried to hard. It's almost like a gasp but not. It's the quick inhale then exhale. I never knew it lasted more than a few minutes after a hard cry but with him it lasts a full day. When he nurses it causes him to have these but he seems to forget how to exhale. He will get a shocked look on his face while not really seeming to breath for 3-7 second and then he exhales a big breath. If it takes him a while he'll let out a startled cry if not, he just latches back on and keeps nursing. I have no clue what causes it or what stops it. I'm just careful not to let him get to that point if I can help it. The thing is that this all causes no real signs of respiratory distress. The doctor isn't worried and all the moms I've found on the Internet with this issue never find a diagnosis. I even found an adult who is still having this issue. I'm not sure what to do about this but worry. I have no clue what I should do as far as the newborn screening. My friend may come over to help me finish it today but we're both concerned about this breathing issue and not sure how to proceed. We'll see what happens.

Food! I'm writing a list. According to my weekly plan I should be shopping tomorrow. We might just go today if we get everything done. We'd really been looking forward to getting out of the house and due to....social issues in our group, in addition to the weather, it doesn't look like we'll be going to group. I'm hoping I can think of a nice variety of meals to make but, my head feels really empty at the moment. Hopefully Mack will help me think of some things.

Now for the last portion of my chaotic post: Politics. We had a bit of a political conversation at group yesterday and it made me see that I don't really identify with any one political group. For one, I've not educated myself well on what the groups truly stand for. I seem to identify with a few traits of a few parties. I guess this is common though. I have a live and let live view on life, this mostly stems from the worry that the government will one day tell me I can't homeschool/unschool, I must vaccinate and unassisted birth(or even plain homebirth) is illegal. These are choice I want to make for myself and I just don't want the government butting it. I'm also pro-life. I really feel abortion is wrong but at times I feel as if maybe it isn't always the wrong thing(this happens rarely) so I guess that could go either way. I know this view is more republican than anything else. I also feel as if the government should provide help to those on need. I don't think they should pull the weight of system moochers but the working poor should be able to get some help if they are truly trying and have a desire to do better. I don't think WIC should provide formula without prescription from a lactation consultant but I guess that's an entirely different post. What does all this make me? I simply don't know. I am starting to have a few issues with our president. While I'm quite happy the color barrier has been broken, I'm not sure he's making all the right choices. Some of his actions seem questionable to say the least. I guess I'll just wait and see how things go over the next year before I make any real decisions on how I feel about him.

I had more but I'm tired of writing and the children are calling me.