Feeling full

When did having more than one child become a social stigma? I know, the whole ideal happy family Disneyland pass family of 4 is much more convenient to buy frozen dinners with, and find economy friendly cars to fit. But the 'one of each' idea isn't what all families feel fits them best. And I know several friends who have more children than I do, so I always think of you gals when strangers say to me "Boy, you have your hands full" when I go in public with my 3 kids.

I just say "Literally I do, that's a good observation." Okay, I say that in my head. Most of the time. (It has slipped out a few times.)

But yes, 3 kids keep me busy. 3 different individuals, personalities, spiritual/emotional/physical needs that need to be met, and usually 90% of it is done by myself. But I think I handle it with better grace than what it feels like on those days when those comments fly my way.

Why does a stranger need to say I have my hands full? Usually all are behaving, clean, following safety boundaries while in public, using manners, etc. Do I have that "about to flip the crazy switch" look on my face? NO? Then why the comment?

Because most days, I feel like my cup is full, and not my hands.

Earth lover

In honor of Earth Day. And as Maren pointed out "Every day is Earth day."

I'm always amazed at how much of what I try to teach actually sinks in to my children. I've tried to live my life very accountable for the way I live it according to how it will affect the earth, to the creatures man is given dominion over, and to my children's most of all. And I love love love it when I hear them use words like "fiber" or "biodegradable."

We were driving down a road a few days ago where workers were cutting down trees and putting them through a chipper for mulch. It's a few acres of pine trees that is farmed for that purpose. We have pine chip mulch all around the landscaping of our own yard even. But two and two finally came together for Maren seeing it in action, and she became down right ANGRY at the men! She was very animated telling me "They aren't supposed to do that! Those trees are still alive!"

All I could say was "You're right." I tried to talk to her about how many things we use trees for. And if we use them, we should plant more, because she knew that's what makes oxygen, and homes for animals, and more. But she wasn't having any of it! So I said to her "Maybe someday you'll grow up and have a job that you protect things on our Earth that other people don't. Like the trees." She of course agreed, and said very defiantly "When I'm old enough, I'll go to college and have a job to save trees, and I'll tell those men they can't do that!"

Ahhhh, my little tree hugger.

She had a bad experience with a caterpiller that was bleeding, and hadn't held any bugs since for a long time, but she's getting back on the horse when it comes to that now. She's constantly bringing me earthworms, potato bugs, slugs, butterflies, and even...

... a baby mouse last week. Into my kitchen. Yes, I screamed, you don't have to ask.

I love that she is my authentic nature lover, but this was taking it a little too far.

Total Mom-mode

James asked me what I want for my birthday coming up. And I couldn't think of anything. I'm a woman, right? I love to shop! Why am I drawing a blank?

Because every day, as I'm managing my household and raising my crew, I can think of a million "wants." Did I use all my "wanting" up then? Naaaa. Not possible.

It's because all of the things I think about wanting have to do with my work. My household. The children. Like I really want some closetmaid organizers for the boys closet, and cute bins to organize their toys better. I want my couch reupholstered so that it actually matches and looks nicer in the livingroom I just busted my butt repainting. I want a new stove with a smooth surface that's easier to clean when this old sucker gives out.

Do I want to ask for any of that for my birthday? No! Because I'm sorta selfish. I want my birthday to be about something for ME! I don't want a stove for my birthday! (that's a pretty big ticket item anyway, that's a "save for another year" kinda item.)

So when I tried to shift into "what I want for myself" mode, all I came up with was bras and a pair of jeans. James thought that was pretty lame to ask for my birthday! Well? I need those things, I said. Appearantly asking for things that I "need" was lame to James, like kids getting underwear for Christmas.

This is why husbands should pay more attention to what their wives say. Because I guarantee I've seen a million things at Ikea, or Bed Bath and Beyond, or Target that I've said I wanted to get, but didn't have it in my budget to splurge on myself. So let this be a lesson to husbands everywhere, I'm sure plenty of them read my blog *wink wink*

So very lucky

I am very thankful.

Thankful that this is a new day, that started out with beautiful sunshine. Thankful that I have an intelligent mind, and thankful that Max is doing well today. Because yesterday was awful. Blah.

Nothing was going right anyway, I should have just layed low. But instead I decided to mow the yard and just have some calm time while the kids played with the water hose. While doing that, despite the glasses I wore, I still got dust blown in my eye and something was really scratching up my eye, making it swollen and irritated. One of the attempts I tried to flush out the debris was using some Visine.

Max was keeping me company in the bathroom, and he grabbed the bottle of visine off the bathroom sink when I set it down, and I wasn't aware. I brought him out, shut the door, and continued to pick up things around the house. I found Max a minute or two later, sucking on the bottle of visine.

Remember the prank of putting visine in someone's water to induce diahrrea? Total myth. But I remembered that, and had actually talked about that literally 5 minutes before to my mom on the phone. So I called poison control, because the bottle says to "Seek medical attention immediately."

It isn't a cleaning solution that you can dilute with milk or anything like that, Tetrahydrozoline causes systemic poisoning if you ingest it, soall you can do is wait and see if the situation becomes bad or not. So we had to wait. And watch.

Max became lethargic, it could have just been because it was a long day in the sunshine and it was bedtime, or it could not have been. But he was falling asleep while I held him and swept my kitchen. He was difficult to wake up, refused eating some yogurt when Poison Control recommended I try to feed him. (That's out of the norm for MAX!) So after great effort to wake him up, he sat on my lap with his eyelids half open, bobbing back and forth, and threw up half of the container of yogurt that he ate.

So it was decided to take him to the ER to get him checked out. Visine can poison, and start showing symptoms of organ failure that start with difficulty breathing, lethargic behavior, drop in blood pressure, and soon lung and kidney failure can occur.

He slept in the car the entire way. He wouldn't wake up going into the ER and processing the initial forms. But he did wake up when they put a bracelet on his ankle. And got pissed off. Cried and fussed for the next hour while we waited, and waited, and waited. Being mad a good sign? Possibly. He wasn't lethargic at that point, that's for sure. So they took that as a sign that he wasn't appearing in a state of emergency.

I asked how long it would be until Max was seen, and they told me that they had 3 people before him, they couldn't tell me how long exactly, but that he would be in order based on timeline arrival. UM, EXCUSE ME? You have an infant with possible poisoning, you haven't checked, and you're telling me it's based on first come first served? How do you know if he's not in danger if you haven't checked him?! He wasn't fully TRIAGED!

So they decided to check his blood pressure and oxygen saturation. Then told me he'll be next in order after 3.

So while I waited, I called Poison Control back, and the after hours Pediatrician line, and Dr. Google. Between our collective heads, WE watched Max's symptoms. WE observed the progress of possible poisoning. WE decided he had enough time due to the wait, and thankfully came out of the clear to go ahead and take him home and watch him through the night.

Only then when I said I was leaving without having been seen for TWO HOURS at this point, did they then finally say "Well, I can check him out right now." Uh, no thanks. Especially after they referred to the myth about diahrrea from Visine. They asked me "What will you do if you get him home, and diahrrea occurs? It could be critical by the time you drove back to the ER."

Well, considering that is a misconception, and you just quoted me that, I didn't feel like I was in capable hands in the first place, I'd drive him to a different ER. And dehydration wouldn't be likely from only one night until he could just go see his pedatrician in the morning. So thanks for the scare tactic, but I'll take my chances, because *I* have been observing him for the last 2 hours. Poisoning doesn't get better, and then turn worse like that. Especially in an infant. He obviously showed some signs, that thankfully improved. No thanks to them. Had they not improved, I seriously question the capacity of the people working the ER that night.

It's a sad situation when Dr. Mom, and Dr. Gooogle, with the help of over-the-phone assessments determined more than they did in person.

Today, Max has an upset tummy, very burpy, but in overall normal behavior, which is a good sign. He'll see the Pediatrician today to make sure his breathing, heart rate, and all those things are still a good sign.

And I've got a complaint letter to write to the Director of Patient Relations, and the Attending physician of Patient Administrations. After Daddy calls them up today too.

Easter was...

...interesting.

There was no Sunday service today due to the General Conference that is broadcast worldwide to all church members. But we didn't get to watch it, we usually wait until it is printed in the Ensign. Our computer doesn't run fast enough for live broadcast, and going to the church to watch a 2 hour conference is, well, near impossible. I can't even get 3 kids to all simultaneously eat quietly, let alone sit through adult speaking for 2 hours.

With no regular Sunday service today, made no pressure for adorable Easter outfits. I realize the Easter program was likely last week, but we were getting rid of pink eye and saying goodbye to our dog. We missed that week too. So no darling pictures of 3 photogenic kids all preshed up for Easter.

Amidst the sugar induced energy of the day, a lizard made its way into the house via James's boot he had in the garage, and tossed into the kitchen wihout checking. I freaked out and it got past me, under the fridge. James pulled it out and tried to go after it, but it must have been part ninja. It disappeared. So James tried to prep me on how to catch it if it resurfaced later or tomorrow. It included throwing a towel over it.

Well, it resurfaced about an hour later, while James was nearby. Did he have a towel ready to toss? No. He had his airsoft pistol. And his quick reaction resulted in the lizard taking a BB to the forehead, if it has one. And blood on my kitchen floor. Gag! But seriously, let's pause a minute at the excellent marksmanship James has.

I had a roast cooking for a nice dinner tonight too. Yummy Rosemary and peppercorn, in the crockpot for 7 hours. As we were starving from the day's family time and traditions, I check the roast... Still not done. It was a bone-in chuck roast, must have still been frozen. So it's now getting late, scarse on groceries so nothing to throw together quickly, we headed out.

Our Easter dinner was supplied by an all you can eat buffet. Classy.