Universal Marriage Assistance

In this time of ubiquitous political verbage, I keep hoping to hear someone offer up some plans for Universal Marriage Assistance. Seriously.

Doesn't it sound like a good idea? There are SO many people in this country, young and old alike, who are *not* married. I know, I know.... it defies belief. But, it's true. And I'm SURE that every single one of them wants to be married. Right? I mean, really - instead of waiting until I was ::gasp:: in my 30's to meet the perfect guy, I could have had some assistance in my early 20's to find just *a* guy. I could have been married TEN YEARS earlier, if there had just been some kind of government program set up to help me.

And, really, why are we leaving the fate of all the little children in the world to mere good luck? What if they never find anyone? I think that if they were protected by the government, and had an appropriate pool of, gosh, at LEAST 4 or 5 people to pick from, then they wouldn't have to worry about what they would do with the rest of their life.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking.... wait. What if someone doesn't WANT to be involved with UMA? You're thinking that this program is going to force a lot of people to drop out of the marriage industry. That some really decent people who would make very good spouses will disappear because they don't want to be told who to see and how to manage their marriage skills.

Now look - that is NOT something we should worry about. Those people probably don't *really* care about marriage. Because if they did, they'd stay and practice marriage, even if it isn't of the best quality. Right?

And, for any of you who are worried that just because the government is involved in providing marriage for everyone that the same government will have too much control in those marriages... well - is that really such a bad thing? And, besides, as long as they pay for the wedding, and subsidize the honeymoon, who are we to complain when they get involved in our personal marriage choices? Really - what makes us think that we are all that good at picking spouses anyway? Heck, isn't the divorce rate somewhere around 50% in this country? Sounds like the government NEEDS to step in. Mistakes are being made all the time! We have no business trying to fix the problems ourselves. The Government should fix it. They are so competent and trustworthy that they OUGHT to be involved in such a personal and important part of our lives. I think any politician who is supportive of Universal Marriage Assistance ought to get a LOT of attention from us. A LOT.

And just think - if we could get Universal Health Care..... drat - I mean Marriage Assistance activated, then it would be a new government program. In other words, it would never go away, no matter what. Doesn't that sound fantastic?

Universal Marriage Assistance. Let's get behind it people!




(removing my tongue from my cheek now)

Skintastic news.

Gooby post title notwithstanding, we have seen some progress with Toot and his eczema. For... gosh... what seems like forever, he has taken a 12 hour antihistamine every night to help control the breakouts/hot spots on his skin. And, during the worst of his breakouts, the medicine supposedly also helped him to sleep through at least some of the itching.

The trade-off, though, was that the medicine contributed to the drying out of his skin. You'd think that it would be counterproductive to give someone with eczema a medicine that almost exacerbated his problems. But, from time to time, we would forget to give him his medicine at night, and could always tell by the next evening that he didn't have it the night before. i.e. his skin would be worse. So, we continued the antihistamine.

Well! We had another forgetful moment a couple of weeks ago. BUT, this time, his skin didn't seem to be worse the next day. So, Hmmmm, says I - let's not give him the medicine again. Again, no major new breakouts the next day. Oooh! And again, we kept the medicine bottle in the cabinet when it was time to go to bed. And on and on.... and now he is 2-3 weeks free of antihistamine!

No, he hasn't suddenly cleared up or anything. But, the eczema isn't any worse. AND, his skin is not as dry - which is a HUGE deal. SO, to be able to be weaned off of the medicine is definite progress!

I realize that when we hit pollen season and summer, that things may change. But, for him to have shown this progress makes us have reasonable hope that he may be in a process of growing out of the worse parts of the problem. Praise the Lord for this good news!

Good News

I went back to the OB office this afternoon for a checkup sonogram, and everything is working as it needs to. I still have some physical healing to do, BUT, there will be no need for surgical or hormonal intervention.

In fact, the doctor asked me to take a home pregnancy test in a couple of weeks. As long as it turns out negative (i.e. my hormone levels are back to a pre-pregnancy state), then I'm also clear of any more doctor visits. This is wonderful news!

Thank you again for your prayers for all of us. God has heard them and answered them abundantly.

To:

All those who have prayed for us - God has answered them abundantly. We have experienced a calm and peace that can only have come from Him. THANK YOU.

All those who have written, called, emailed - your notes of encouragement and love have given us something concrete to hold and see, and that has helped so much. THANK YOU.

All those who have shared your own stories with me - knowing that this affects so many has given us a sense of almost-community which has, in an odd way, helped to share the load of emotion. THANK YOU.

All those who have brought/offered to bring food - your generosity is so touching. THANK YOU.

All those at Jmk's office who have fielded calls and rerouted work these last few days - his being home with me has helped us all have healing time and much needed family time. THANK YOU.


I have two more prayer requests - first, for me physically. That this process is working completely, and will have done what is supposed to have done by the time I go in for a follow-up sonogram tomorrow afternoon.
Second, for Poodle. That she is able to process what has happened without being able to understand it the way an adult can. That we say and do the right things with and for her.

We are truly doing well, and are going to be fine. We expect to have some emotional challenges in the next few weeks, and expect to always miss our AB. (Angel Baby). But thanks to your prayers, and God's mercy, we are doing well. Thank you for your support, and for caring so much - SO much - about all of us.

We love you!

The Quiet Club

There's a really large club out there that has no membership roles nor meetings. It has no club motto, nor does it have by-laws. Its only dues are paid in tears and heartache. It's a club with lots of members, and not a one of them asked to be in the club.

It's the club of parents who have dealt with the pain of miscarriage. And, inside the club, there is a unique sorority of women who carried those babies.

Jmk and I regret so much to have to say that we are now members of that life-altering club.

For reasons that we don't need to know, our baby left us very early in its life. I began serious spotting Tuesday night, and as it was still ongoing Wednesday morning, we went to the OB's office. They tried to find a heartbeat, but there was none. The baby was measuring about 8Weeks and 3days, which means that he left around Thursday of last week, at best guess. The doctor says it isn't as common after having had such a strong heartbeat already, but that it's likely due to a chromosomal issue that simply caused a cessation of organ development.

I was scheduled for a D&C surgery this Friday morning - but it appears that I have begun the process of a natural miscarriage already. So, after discussing it all with the OB's office, as of right now, the surgery is off. It will likely make for a long weekend, but being able to avoid the surgery is actually a good thing. We would still really appreciate your prayers for Jmk and myself - for healing and comfort.

As we have heard from the pulpit, God does not give us trials to test us, because He does not need to do that. He already knows what we are capable of. However, the trials in our life can serve to show US the lessons we need to learn, whatever they may be. We don't need to know the reasons for any of this. And it may be years before we can look back and see a purpose behind the trial. But we know that God is in control, and His will is perfect. We need not question when we are following Jesus Christ.

So many who I have talked with have shared their own similar experiences - some I knew about, some I didn't. It is seemingly so common for this to happen. While that doesn't change the hurt involved, it does bring a sense of life-goes-on to the whole situation. And, being home with little children is also a great boost and distraction - they keep my focus on the miracles that we have already been given.

Thank you all for your prayers. I am sure those prayers are what are keeping us together right now.

Verbal progress

Thought I might give a little update on Toot's flowering language skills.

First, when I went to pick the kids up from MooMoo and GaGa's house on Saturday pm, I really think I heard him say "MaMa!" and then come to me. But, I wasn't sure, because there was a lot of talking and noise. But, I'm SURE that I heard him say that when I came home from Junior Miss practice, Sunday evening. What a lovely sound!

He's starting to use DaDa more regularly, and MaMa is beginning to be used from time to time. He's actually showing an interest in trying to say things now. Of course, you can't really understand what he's saying, unless you see it in context, but just the fact that he's trying is new progress. He even tried to say "juice" for the first time yesterday!

We still haven't heard back from the Early Intervention program folks, even though I did call the pediatrician and ask again about the referral. So, would he have made even better progress had the speech therapy been started? I don't know. Could have been just the same. As Jmk has been saying all along, he started talking when he was ready. We're certainly not having conversations or anything, but I suspect we'll have a lot easier time communicating with him by the time wee one arrives at the end of the summer.

This has been a good, and much needed, lesson for me. I knew I had a bad habit of comparing my kids to others - and relying too heavily on the "standard" or the average milestones to judge their progress. But until this experience, I didn't realize JUST how much I did. I'm definitely going to be adjusting my outlook from this point on.

And I'm very grateful to hear "mama"...... Even though I'm sure that within a few months or so, "Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy" is probably going to drive me bonkers. ha!

Happy Birthday......

To Legos!

Play Well, everyone!

As Time Goes By...

Then
(12-4-05)













Now
(1-1-08)

Answered Prayers!

And Lord willing, brother's gonna be a PhD!

Just heard from David, and he passed his exams!

He wanted to me to send a heartfelt thank you to all those who offered prayers on his behalf - and that comes from me as well. Thank you for thinking of him. He says he knows that those prayers are what got him through the difficult week last week.

He is beyond elated, and is SO glad to be able to focus on what he really enjoys. He'll spend the next 2 to 3 years with research and programming and presentations and publishing - and then he'll write and defend a dissertation. Then, presto! He'll be done. I think a lot of wonderful things will happen for him between now and then..... thank you again for your prayers on his behalf.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye...

announcement from the Head Zookeepers....

::ahem::

Our Christmas Surprise Cometh
(Lord willing)

Scheduled to arrive at the Zoo sometime around the second of September.
Full details below.





Details to answer all the WHAT'S?????

I know, I know..... How in the world could two overplanning, detail-people get surprised by something like a baby???

Well, I didn't think it was possible, but it is!

Before anybody thinks that this one is a total oops - he/she isn't! Jmk and I were talking about discussing the possibility of getting pregnant this summer. Especially because if we had another one, I sort of wanted to have a Spring baby, mostly so as not to be pregnant during the worst of the summer. But.... hey - at least I have all the maternity clothes already. The timing of the wee one is a surprise, but the baby is welcome, expected, and is causing a great deal of excitement already!

Poodle is, of course, seriously hoping for a girl. And is VERY excited. Tooter, who just learned to say "baby" hasn't exactly expressed an opinion yet.



Jmk was quite surprised at his Christmas eve present which was this picture of the family that was taken before he and I left for his office Christmas party. I took it, used the Paint program (which explains the, um, high-tech drawing) to draw the little swaddled bundle in his arms. Jmk's poor eyes got bigger than I thought they could get, he said "are you really", and then I think his face turned white. Needless to say, after less than a week of processing it all, he was ready to go. (I had already had my week of processing time when I first started feeling pregnant about a week and a half before I could even test).

Telling the family was SO much fun. We let Poodle do it. We'd put her on the phone, and she'd say "so-and-so, I have a surprise for you! It's a picture of such-and-such." (she really was drawing pictures for people). They would say "oh, that's so nice, thank you". Then she'd say "And today, it's all about the baby in Mommy's tummy!" (we didn't tell her what to say - just to tell the person on the phone about the baby).

And pretty much to a person, her statement was followed by a "WHAT?" (We had everyone on speaker phone). SueSue quickly followed her "what" with a "let me talk to your mother!" lol......
There was a lot of "what did you say? Poodle, say that again". My mom got squeal-y in octaves I didn't know she could hit. :-)

Yes - this was a surprise for everyone, but at the end of the day, we're all excited. As for me, I have been feeling good - almost no nausea this time. Some food aversion, some iffy stomach, and quite a bit of exhaustion. But practically no nausea. Of course, I have to keep telling myself that I don't have to be nauseous to have a healthy baby. And just because I was with the first two doesn't mean that I have to be with this one. I'll be very glad to have the Junior Miss season finished - it's wearing me out!

I'll be making some changes, of course. I'm putting the transcription work aside, because I need my free time to rest. And, when #3 gets here, I'm going to need any and all precious free time to not be filled with work. Plus, I'm not giving up my MK business, although it will remain very part-time, like it is now.

As always, I would so appreciate being remembered in your prayers - especially during the understandably tricky first trimester. And, since my precious father reads this blog, I won't go into the details regarding charting that some of you must be wondering about. But feel free to send me an email, if you're thinking that all this must mean charting doesn't work. lol.... I'll explain.

Last Day!

His last round of tests are this morning - in addition to the previous requests, please pray for an extra measure of perseverance and focus to finish strongly.

It will be awhile before the final scores are back in, but I'll try to remember to keep everyone posted. Thank you so much for your prayers and good thoughts for him!

Prayers Again

His next round of exams begins tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 9:00AM. Please pray again for his success!

Late Prayer Request

My youngest brother is currently in a PhD program in Computer Science and is taking his "Level One" exams this week. This morning is the first of three days of exams. These mandatory exams will determine for him whether or not he continues in the program - please pray for him to have a clear mind, a calm spirit, and God-given confidence.

He'll be in the one this morning until noon, and then will take the 2nd round on Wednesday morning. Friday morning is the third and last round.

Thank you for your prayers!

Finis!

The kids just took their last dose of the antibiotics for the ear infections. 10 days of antibiotics - blugh. I can see now why parents whose children are very susceptible to these things get tubes put in as soon as they can. This 10 days of medicine thing is a pain in the tookus. Especially for the kids - Toot has had his share of tummy problems with the medicine, and Poodle has slept terribly while on it.

On the upside, Toot's skin has seen some improvement. The problem with eczema is that it creates tiny fissures in the skin that can become infected because they are so hard to protect and close up. These antibiotics have taken quite a bit of red out of his skin, which is nice! I have a topical antibiotic cream to use on him, but as it is with all medicines, overuse of that can cause other problems down the road.

Anyway, for a short time, his normally red'ish skin has a more normal appearance. It's nice.

And the kids are done!!!

Working on words

As you know, our second little bundle of monkiness isn't a big talker yet. This is the most recent post about all that. The word explosion that you hear about hasn't happened yet, nor do I really expect it any more.

But, he IS slowly starting to add words to his world. Most of them I probably wouldn't understand if I didn't know the situation at hand. But, at least he's starting to use them!

Here are a few of what I can remember at the moment:
Eh-mo (Elmo) This actually takes some prompting. His first attempt at Elmo isn't as clear.
Coohkie (cookie) Pretty clear!
Sooes (shoes)
Up (asking to be picked up) Finally! We've been working on this one for forEVer.

There are more - I know there are. It's just what I remember immediately. But, it's more than he had, and he isn't completely verbally stagnant. And, as with most new tricks he picks up, he's only mildly impressed with himself. I'm telling you - this kid is a dude. But, as it has been for awhile, he can follow multiple commands in a sentence. So the talking, as Jmk has always said, will come when it comes. If I could just find that blasted worry switch in my head, I would turn it right off. It has never been useful, and it's turning into quite the albatross!

Cat?

lol.....

Jmk caught this picture of our dear cat GiGi a day or two before Christmas. She has golden'ish eyes, and they caught the flash of the camera at quite a moment!

We thought it was kind of funny.

Be warned, dear friends, that if I get lax for the next month, it isn't because of severe nothingness happeningus around here! Quite the contrary, unfortunately. Somehow scrunched in among my regular days, January demands me to start gathering info for taxes (including the home business), finish an essay for a Junior Miss publication, the actual Junior Miss show which is upcoming in February for which I am choreographer and production person, and a handful of other "things" that really aren't necessary to be listed right now.

Whine, whine, whine - and that's why I should be given complete absolution for not posting much, if that ends up being the case this month. It won't be because the kids aren't going and doing as usual. It's because my poor brain is too tired to remember to post everything. Or anything. Or, I won't have the time to post said things. You know how it goes.

I'll do my best - but thank you for checking in with us often anyway!!!

A wonderful book from Aunt Julie

I really hesitated to specifically mention just one of the gifts that the children got over Christmas, because they got SO many wonderful things from family. BUT, I got a chance to really look at this beautiful book today, and wanted to share it. It's a great book, full of lovely pictures and great Scripture - King James Version! This would make a fantastic addition to your kids' library!

The author and illustrator, Laurie Parker, lives in Starkville, MS. Homegirl done good! Here's one link to a bookstore who sells it. A for Angels - A Bible Alphabet. Enjoy!

Finally some Christmas morning pictures!

Because I know you were just waiting with breath much baited for these!
;-)

This is one of only two things that Poodle wanted from Santa Claus. A Snow White dress. And, actually, the closer we got to Christmas morning, this is THE only thing she wanted. I told myself so many times to remember the feeling of how precious it was to hear "it's the only thing I want for Christmas!". The simplicity of the desire. The sweetness of it.









Here, we have Poodle modeling said dress (and matching shoes!) for SueSue and Amy, who got up early and drove all the way to our house to visit with the kids for a bit on Christmas morning. It was so special to have them there!











This is the other thing that she wanted for Christmas. It's a fabric tea set. Durndest thing, this. But unbreakable by little brothers! Even has a little piece of cake and a cupcake with it. Along with fabric spoons and fabric tea bags.

Just adorable. Santa Claus brought her a few more things, of course. But she was most thrilled to have BOTH things that she really, really wanted!





Now. Tooter. As you can see, here, ole Santa did well with the Elmo doll. But, mostly, Toot really didn't get into the Christmas thing. Didn't understand, didn't care about opening presents, wasn't aware of what was going on. He's just our little dude!








Santa also scored with a t-ball type thingy (which you barely see here) and with the basketball goal.

Toot enjoys it, but you should see Poodle hit the net! She's something else. Does NOT get it from me. I assure you that. Never was any good at basketball.

Always worried about breaking my nails. ::ahem::

Christmas morning was wonderful!


Health update:
We are already starting to see improvement with the kids this morning, so I expect full bundles of energy very soon, just as everyone has been "warning" me. :-) Maybe we'll practice a little couch b-ball this afternoon.

Drat.

Two sets of double-ear infections. This is our first bout of ear infections with the kids, and both of them came down at the same time. Joy! CAB, we had no idea Tooter had any problem at all - same situation that y'all had!

I would guess that they picked up a little bug at a birthday party play yard last Saturday that, combined with the sniffles and congestion they already had, turned the whole mess into a... well, a mess. To quote the folks at The Beehive: Woo and indeed Hoo.

$135 left at the pharmacy (groooaaaan), and we'll start the mending process tonight. But, it could be worse. So, it's movies and couchtime all day for the next couple of days. And there is very little wrong with that!

HAPPY 2008!!!

We all hope for many blessings and much happiness for you in this beautiful year!

Jmk went back to work today (he takes off a lot of time around Christmas), and as soon as we get through moping because Daddy isn't here to play, we'll all try to get ourselves back in the swing of things. I may even attend to all my unanswered emails and even keep the blog updated! (Don't anyone faint, now).

Unfortunately, we are going to have to start the New Year with a trip to the doctor's office. Seems Poodle has picked up something that has settled in her right ear. She's never had an ear infection before, so I can't tell if this is one, or if she just has congestion in her ear. Since she's running fever this morning, we're going to have things checked out. But, Lord willing, we'll all get over all the sniffles, etc. that comes with this time of year and get ready to have a GREAT 2008!!!