A Long Overdue Update

Well, a lot has happened in the last few weeks! We went to Missouri for 10 days to do our Christmas marathon of visiting family. The boys started the trip sick with colds and ended it sick with the flu. But we had a great time visiting with everyone and were able to see most of our family members and even some friends, which was great!

While we were gone, Megan (Chet's sister) helped me identify that the unusual symptoms I was having were likely related to gall bladder problems. So when I got home, I started researching in my Smart Medicine for Healthier Living book and found several natural remedies. Since I'm in the first trimester of pregnancy, the only one that my doctor wants me to try is the olive oil and lemon juice combo. The book recommended 3 tbsp. of olive oil mixed with the juice of one lemon, which is to be ingested right before bed and then again in the morning before breakfast. I did this for a couple of days...

and then I got the stomach bug that the boys had! Needless to say, I didn't attempt to drink olive oil and lemon juice at this point! In two days of having the flu I lost 4 or 5 pounds and was not in good shape. My gall bladder did feel better because I was eating absolutely no fat (or much of anything for that matter), but as soon as I ate a slice of cheese when I was better, the gall bladder problems came back.

I went to the doctor today for my first OB appointment, and we talked some about the gall bladder issues. She's ordered an ultrasound of my gall bladder, and we'll decide what to do from there. When I came home a friend had sent me directions for a different (more intense) version of the olive oil and lemon juice cleanse. So I'll run that by the doctor to see if I can try it before the ultrasound or if she'd rather I wait until after. I'm really hoping it works! I'm not exactly all that interested in having an unnecessary surgery, particularly if something like olive oil and lemon juice can take care of it.

On a more exciting note, there was a 5-day discrepancy between when the paper dating wheel they use in the doctor's office said I conceived and when my temperature changed (signifying ovulation if you don't know anything about the fertility awareness method of charting). The doctor likes to do c-sections one week early, and so the 5-day difference could be big one way or the other. In order to determine my exact due date, she had me have an early ultrasound during today's visit.

According to the ultrasound, I am exactly 10 weeks and 2 days pregnant, which means my due date is August 15, 2009. The baby was moving around like crazy. It has only one head with developing facial features and has two arms, two legs, tiny little fingers and tiny little toes. There is a very strong heartbeat racing along at 169 beats per minute. They say faster heartrates can indicate that it's a girl, but I'm not counting my chickens, because Ladan and Gabe both had fairly high heartrates as well.

As the ultrasound tech was trying to get around my uterus to see my ovaries, I was watching the baby jumping all around doing something like jumping jacks. I said, "Can you even believe that people throw these babies in the trash can like it's nothing?" She said, "I have never been an ultrasound tech who is pro-abortion. I just look at these tiny little bodies and how early their hearts beat and everything starts developing and have no idea how someone can discard them as nothing important." Seriously. This is why it is so great when crisis pregnancy centers can have ultrasound machines right in their offices.

I was bummed that Chet didn't get to see it (he's sitting in a philosophy class all week), but he'll for sure get to see the later one, which will be even more fun!

With regard to our move to Champaign, Chet's been working HARD to get things in order. Our good friends, Logan and Allison Preston, and their three children are making the move with us. There may be others who decide to go as well, which would be awesome! There are already 5 people in Champaign who are committed to the church, and there may be more before we even arrive... thanks to Jim Smith, our good friend there who is working from that end. Chet is applying for jobs, and we'll start talking with lenders to determine if we'll be able to buy a home at this point. We still have enough in savings, but since our future income sources seem a little bit all over the place, they may require that we get there and get established a bit before buying. We'll see how it shakes out. Anyway, once Chet gets a job and we find a place to live, we'll make the move. It's a bit of a whirlwind, that's for sure!

I'll end with a little story. The other night during small group, one of the high school girls was watching the kids. Apparently, Ladan had a very hard time obeying and was openly defiant several times. She explained the situation to me, so before I left to take her home, I told Chet that Ladan would have to have discipline when they got home. Chet took care of that, and I was putting Ladan to bed a while later. I talked to him for a few minutes about how it made me sad to hear that he had disobeyed Cali and had treated her and the other kids poorly. I reminded him that this is sin and that it is what separates us from God. I reminded him that this is why we need Jesus, to save us from our sins.

After that quick talk, we moved on to our story. We just happened to be on the story of Zaccheus in his Jesus Storybook Bible. The story talks about how Zaccheus didn't have any friends because he was stealing from people. This was disobeying God, and he was a sinner. Jesus came along and rescued Zaccheus from his sinning. He forgave Zaccheus and gave Zaccheus a new heart. Zaccheus wanted to obey God after that.

We prayed after the story. Ladan hasn't wanted to pray out loud for a little while for some reason. He likes to just close his eyes and listen to us pray. But this time, as I was thanking God for sending Jesus to save us, he interjected, "Thank you, God, for saving me from my sinning." We went on to pray that God would help Ladan understand what Jesus did for him when He died and rose again and that God would help Ladan believe and trust in Him and want to obey and love others well. I was so thankful that he was owning his sin and that he is able to verbalize that he needs to be rescued from it. The Lord is working in his little heart!

Oh, one more thing. You'll never believe it....

CHET HAS A FACEBOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Faces and Homemade Goodness

What a day! This morning I was able to go to Panera for ALMOST TWO HOURS BY MYSELF! I ate a whole grain bagel and read my Bible the entire time. Well, I didn't eat the bagel the entire time, but I did read my Bible the entire time. I popped my earplugs in and was able to focus really well. I finished 1 Kings. I just joined up with a couple other moms for a Thursday morning kid swap, so I was able to take Ladan to a friend's house. Since Gabe was sick, Chet stayed home with him. Normally Chet comes home from his morning class and goes straight to bed, so this was a really big treat for me that I thought wasn't going to be possible because Gabe is sick. Yippee!!!!

When I got home, Ladan asked if he could have a piece of candy from our church Reformation Party. He picked a blue Starburst, and this is what it did to his mouth...

It was great! He thought it was hilarious! His blue mouth made his face happy for quite a few minutes. I'd say that there was enough dye in that one piece of candy to color enough icing for an entire cake.

Once the boys were in bed for their naps, I did a few things around the house. For dinner, I made a chicken pot pie... with a happy face cut out of the top (forget the boring scalloped circle recommended in the recipe)! It only takes about an hour to make this, and it's really good. It's also huge, so it lends itself well to leftovers. And apparently you can assemble it, wrap it well, and freeze it for future baking. I'll post the recipe in another entry just in case you're interested in trying it out.

Once I got dinner cleaned up, I started making some pumpkin bread out of that friendly pumpkin we brought home from the pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago. Although it took a while from start to finish, it was very easy and included long chunks of time to do other things. If you'd like to see the recipe, click here. I turned our pumpkin into one loaf of pumpkin bread and three cups of pumpkin puree that are in the freezer waiting to be turned into three loaves of bread sometime in the future!

As if all that wasn't enough homemade goodness for the day, I decided to attempt to make the ear infection drops suggested in a FABULOUS book I reference all the time--Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Natural and Conventional Treatments for Infants & Children. (I just realized that there is actually an adult version of this book when I went to copy the link. I'm going to add it to my Amazon wish list immediately! I've been using the kid version even for myself, and it's been great, but this will most certainly be even better for we old folks.)

Anyway, back to the ear infection and drops. I can't be sure if Gabe has an ear infection. I haven't taken him to the doctor, because even if I take him, all they'll do is give him an antibiotic. All I know is that he sure has been crabby for almost a week, has hardly eaten, and today he started pulling on his ears. He's got a pretty wet cough, so I wouldn't be surprised at all by an ear infection.

I know there are varying opinions on antibiotics for this type of thing, but in short, I don't like them much and will avoid them if at all possible. I talked to a nurse who works at Children's Hospital in St. Louis once, and she told me that they don't even administer antibiotics there unless there is danger of death. She was shocked when I told her that so many of our friends' kids are continually put on antibiotics for ear infections. Sure, ear infections are painful and irritating, but there has to be a better way in most of these cases to help kids get through it that doesn't diminish their resistance to future infection. Well, I think I found at least one helpful solution today!

In Smart Medicine, they suggest making some simple ear drops. You put about 2 Tbsp. of olive oil in a small pot on the stove. Then peel a fresh garlic clove and cut it into about three or four pieces (the book doesn't say you have to cut it, but I did so the garlic would get out into the oil faster). I heated the oil and garlic on medium for about 5 minutes, removed it from the heat, and let it cool until it was still a bit warmer than body temperature but not too hot. You then suck up a bit of the oil in a medicine dropper, lay your kid on his/her side, and drop one or two drops into their ear canal.

We did this in both of Gabe's ears, and while he absolutely hated the process of being held down, after about 10 or 15 minutes, he was up and running around like himself and had a great time until he went to bed an hour and a half later! Apparently, garlic has antibacterial properties and works to heal ear (and other) infections. And the warm oil mixed with the garlic helps to relieve pressure and pain. It was awesome! We'll definitely be doing this once or twice a day until this thing is gone completely.

So I sent him to bed with a bit of Olbas Oil on his shirt, the humidifier on normal setting, and a HAPPY FACE on the front of his head for the first time in almost a week! Praise the Lord!

Chet even had a happy face before he left for work. He was able to write half a paper in the chunk of time after dinner until he left. Great work! He's still got a TON to do between now and next Monday, but he's on a roll!

Oh, and I made some hummus from scratch earlier this week, which turned out to be 1/4 of the cost of buying it in the store. I'm on fire! Too bad I don't have a photo of my happy face tonight!