Baby Sick-i-poo

I've been "nursing a sick baby". Isaac has his first cold. Watery eyes, runny nose, cough, fussiness, oh my goodness. He wants the mama all the time. He's not sleeping well, just 30 minutes here and there. He'll cough then cry and it's so pitiful. I can't stand it! Today we were both crying.

I took him to the doctor Monday morning. Not his African doc that I love, but the staff pediatrician that I endure. He examined Isaac and diagnosed his illness, but when he handed him back to me something very strange happened. Heather and I have both noticed that he has this "baby whisperer" thing going on. He calms babies so well it's weird. He's a little weird too. He doesn't have children, never wanted them apparently but has dedicated his career to caring for them. Odd. Then he does this funny hip-swaying dance with babies that just doesn't match his dry personality. So, anyway, he hands Isaac back to me and immediately he starts screaming. Not crying, but screaming. Face turning red and all. It was so sudden and so intense I looked him over to see if he was hurt. Then he turned back toward the doctor and reached his hand out to him. He wanted to go back into his arms! What diabolical spell have you cast upon my child???? The doctor is continuing on with his spill about treating the common cold and doesn't even seem to realize Isaac 's distress. It was so weird. He has never done that even when he wants me!

Noah's Preschool Program

Noah had "Patriotic Day" at his preschool. His class learned the song "Grand Old Flag" to sing for it. He sings it now all the time. Here are pics from his last preschool event. Kindergarten is only a few months away :(

Noah's class in their cute t-shirts and hats

All the proud parents and grandparents, keeping Cannon and Minolta in business.

Noah's teacher, Mrs. Tina. Her one-year-old was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis this year. Please keep them in prayer.

Noah

Noah and Austin enjoying the hot dog lunch

Noah and Luke; they keep Mrs. Tina hopping!

My sweet boy.

My beautiful baby

God is good and the cat is naughty

I have to give God praise.

Yesterday morning I was headed out the door to bible study (on time, no less!), when I realized my car keys were missing. I dumped out my purse and racked my brain trying to think why they weren't there. I looked everywhere I thought they could be. I'd brought in groceries the night before so it occurred to me that maybe I'd left them in the kitchen. I checked the hutch, the island, the kitchen counters. But no. No keys. No expensive Ford Explorer keys that have to be purchased through the dealership because they have an anti-theft chip to prevent duplication. Ahhh!!!! After searching the house and the car for half and hour or so, I called Bo and he left work to bring me his set of keys so I could go to the study. When I returned home, the hunt continued until I got too frustrated to continue. I prayed about finding them, and sat down in the recliner to rest. I turned on the TV and while watching a local preacher, God spoke to my spirit, "Judah knocked them into the trash". I got up from the chair, dug out half the kitchen trash, and went right to them. Praise God! I give glory to the One who knows where all things are!!!! Our boy cat, Judah, lays on the kitchen island and sprawls out, knocking stuff off. The trash can is right beside the island so......


Thank you God! And thank you Bo for not taking out the trash; this time it was okay. :)

The culprit.

He's spending today outside.

You're Different

Isaac's pediatrician is from Nigeria. Her name is Dr. Chenwe Ukaonu. I really like her. She is patient and friendly, thorough with Isaac's care, and I love her African accent! Bo and I have decided to delay Isaac's immunizations, because of the research I did while investigating natural remedies for Caleb's ADHD. It's possible (not everyone agrees) that toxins, chemicals, environmental pollutants, and preservatives in vaccines could affect the brain during the rapid growth that occurs the first two years. Dr. Ukanu seemed surprised that I'd even request this and has been asking me questions at Isaac's check-ups. She is curious about me and wants to know what caused me to seek natural alternatives, if it's related to my faith, etc. She laughed when I showed her the homeopathic teething drops I give Isaac. Looking over his chart, she asked "who delivered him?". I said, "I did, but Dr. Talley was there." She laughed, saying "oh I thought you might have had him at home!" I said no, I went to the hospitial. She said "I bet you had a birth plan!". Oh, yeah. Her questions continued. Were we from here? Did we have a church? What did Bo do? Had Isaac completed our family? Were all four children from the same father? I breastfed them how long? After the interview she concluded, "you're different". Yes. The story of my life. I've always felt I was different, like a salmon, swimming upstream, going against the grain in one way or another, not willing or content to go with the flow. I often feel like an alien, different from those around me. Even with other women, I get frustrated by superficial talk and find it difficult to fit in.

I'm naturally drawn to people who are creative, unique, confident, and "different".

Recently at a church service, my heart was drawn to two people I noticed in the congregation. One was a young man with Down's syndrome. He was sitting on the front row during praise and worship, with both hands lifted high and singing to God with a huge smile on his face. His sweet worship stopped me in my tracks. It was so pure and honest and passionate. I smiled at him. The other person was an older man who had every appearance of being homeless. He came in late and took the last seat in the church, right behind me. He sat quietly and respectfully, but would sing along to old hymns and would say 'amen' after the prayers. After the service, I wanted to speak to him, touch his hand, tell him he was welcome there.

Being "different" is not really a bad thing. Our time on this earth is temporary so it's normal to feel like we just can't get comfortable here. It's like the group "Petra" (yes, I am a child of the 80s!) sings, "we are strangers, we are aliens, we are not of this world.....".

Many of the Old Testament prophets didn't feel like they fit in. Jeremiah said "because of Your hand upon me, I stand alone". Elijah felt so alone and discouraged he said "I'm the only one left". And of course Jesus was so different He rocked everyone's world with His teaching and His miracles. He stirred up the religious folk and wasn't even received by the very ones He came to save.

I guess I'm in good company. :)

You Smell

Last night at dinner Noah informed us that we all smelled like something. He went around the table, giving us his description of our individual scents. Here they are:

Dad: You smell like a snail.

Joshua: You smell like a pickle-man.

Charity: You smell like a strawberry.

Caleb: You smell like a worm.

Isaac: You smell like a pineapple head.

Mom: You smell like a ham sandwich.

The Lord's Prayer

Prepare yourself for major cuteness........ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk

Sweet Home Alabama

I went "home" to Dothan this weekend and had a wonderfully refreshing weekend. I crammed a lot of great things into one day and one night.....

I went to see my pastor, Paul Estes. I met with him Saturday for the quarterly ministry training that I'm blessed to be a part of, then afterwards he and his beautiful wife Anita prayed over Isaac, dedicating him to the Lord.

Later that day I placed my fourth infant son into the loving arms of my grandmother, "Mama Fran". Isaac was tired but he mustered up enough energy to smile and laugh with her. It made her day.

I stayed the night with my friends Jason and Laura. Crazy Jay has realized that thirtysomething is not too early to start smoking a pipe!

Sunday morning I visited an interesting church in Dothan. It's a spirit-filled (they believe in the gifts and the baptism of the Holy Spirit), contemporary, Methodist church. It was awesome. It was the best of both worlds; it had a friendly, welcoming environment but also a solid spiritual foundation. It's been a long time since I've been in a church that was this well balanced. My recent church experiences have either been seeker friendly churches, which were great with outreach but lacked depth and discipline, or traditional churches, which had great teaching but lacked passion and life. So to see this church so balanced and healthy in both areas really encouraged me. My heart has become very cynical and I needed this. The children were welcomed, well cared for, and safe. The sanctuary was beautiful and had big huge picture windows with automatic shades that were controlled to create atmosphere in the service. Breakfast was available at tables throughout the back of the sanctuary. The worship was contemporary and passionate. They sang "Mighty To Save", my favorite worship song since having Isaac. The altars were open and people were encouraged to worship. The pastor talked about being filled with the Spirit, tithing, fasting, and prayer. The sermon was on finances, a very relevant topic, but the Word was preached throughout the message. Peace reigned in the house. I was blessed.

I can talk!

Isaac has discovered his voice. He yells......

Charity

Joshua's girlfriend, Charity, just turned seventeen. They were born the same month. Joshua was three weeks old when Charity was born. March was a fun month, celebrating the kids turning seventeen. Charity's birthday party was fun. Instead of gifts, she wanted donations for the humane society. Dog food, treats, toys, etc. So, I brought her a big box of dog biscuits for her birthday. Here's pics from her big day.....

Grover, Joshua, Miranda

Joshua and Charity

Caleb (Ca-lah-bee)

Who wouldn't love a girl who wants dog biscuits for her birthday????

Presents!

Joshua set Charity's cake aflame with seventeen candles crammed together in the middle

Don't you love him?

Noah goes to preschool three days a week. When I transport Noah to and from school, I don't usually bring Isaac into the building. Since my last trimester of pregnancy, I've parked behind the school and the teachers let me in the back door to drop off Noah and pick him up. It's very convenient not to haul Isaac in and out of the car. He is very heavy in his car seat.

Noah frequently asks me to bring the baby to his class so he can show him off to his friends. He is so proud of his baby brother. It's so sweet to me, and blesses my heart. This morning he asked me to bring the baby so before school was out, I brought Isaac to Noah's classroom. He stood next to me, with a big smile on his face and his little chest puffed out with pride, while eight boys and three girls fawned over our little lamb. They circled around us and held his little hands and made him smile. The girls said "hey Isaac".

Noah said, "don't you all just LOVE my baby?".

Isaac, you are one blessed little guy. You have not one, but THREE big brothers to love and protect you.

My Roly Poly

The other day, Heather called Isaac a "roly poly". A typical chubby Chapel baby. (Noah was my only average size baby.) Although Isaac was born the smallest of the four, you can see he is filling out quite well! One reason for all the rolls is his nursing technique. He breastfeeds from one breast per feeding, so he gets "hindmilk" at every feed, the milk that causes babies to feel full and is richest in fat and calories. Anyway, back to roly poly. He really is a roly poly. He balls up. Sometimes I lay him down asleep and he's balled up. His legs are drawn up and his head curls down. I can lift him in the air and shake him side to side and he'll ball up (do all babies do this?). I love my roly poly baby.

Oh, and I love roly polies, too. I use to collect them from my grandmother's flower beds and keep them in baby food jars. Sweet memories.

More conversations with Noah

Isaac is teething. He drools and chews on his hands, his shirt, his blanket, my hair, anything he can get his sweet little chubby hands around. He wants to be held and nursed a lot for comfort. This morning I rocked him to sleep and laid him in his crib to nap while I took a shower. I heard a knock on the bathroom door. It's Noah....

Me: Yes?

Noah: Baby.

Me: Okay, I'll be there in a minute.

Noah: I tried to give him his suckee but it fell out and he's just screaming.

Me: Okay, Noah, thanks for trying. I'll........

Noah interrupts: I don't know what to do. I'm not a mommy.

Noah leaves and goes back to playing his video game in the living room. I hop out of the shower, throw a towel around me and rush through the house half dressed to rescue my peanut from teething pain. Noah sees me.

Noah: A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Feeling Better

I'm better today. Not totally well, but able to be up out of the bed. My fever is gone.

The kids were out for spring break last week and one day our family went bowling. Noah's friend Luke came with us; we got them a six pound ball and a lane with gutter guards. They had a blast and were so cute! Here's pics.....

Sick-i-poo

Ohmygosh I have been sick. I started out with respiratory allergies, which led to a headache and muscle aches, which led to a high fever (almost 104 last night). I've been in bed for two days! I'm hot because of the fever, but I want my blanket for comfort. If I move the blanket off to expose one inch of skin, brrrr, I'm cold. I'm hot. I'm cold. I'm hot. I'm cold. I'm hold. I'm cot. I'm miserable. I've been running the humidifier to loosen the congestion in my chest and that has helped, and resulted in tons of crumbled tissues all over the floor. Also everything in my bedroom is damp because of the moisture. Hope I don't get mildew.