Some recent pics

Another biopsy, but this time with the Hirschsprungs Specialist in the US

Poor Holly bug. I just HATE to put her through anything. But, it seems that there is no choice. I have been emailing the specialist in Cincinnati about her ongoing issues. He wants to see her and rebiopsy the distal pull-through as well as do a contrast study.

It is good that he is getting onboard. But it is hard to hear that he thinks there is cause for concern. We don't have a date yet, but his nurse will be in contact to set that up.

Can I vent a little bit? People are always telling me how healthy she looks, and I know they mean well with it. I know it is intended to encourage me that she is a beautiful child and we must be giving her great care. But, in all honesty it is hard to hear when you know things aren't right, and you think you must be freakin' crazy to think something is wrong when she looks so good. Well, on the outside at least. I am not angry just feel like they must think I am a nut.

I don't even know what I want to happen. I don't want another pull through, but I am not happy at the idea of her having the issues she is having now for the rest of her life (constipation and painful bm).

Sometimes you can't win for losing.

Do I dare even blog this...

I am hesitant to even start. I am tired and really should just go to bed but I feel the need to update about Hollyse.

It all started last week when she started crying when she would go, you know. She would cry, a lot. By Monday I thought, hmmm...no bowel movement in 24 hours but really cranky. So I made an appointment, which was needed anyway for a growth check.

On Tuesday morning we headed to the pediatricians office. Thank goodness Dean insisted on going so someone else was there to hear all that was said. Her pediatrition was her usual, terrible bed manner self. But, we look past it because she has been on top of things. She didn't care about the crying during BMs (apparently I am stupid because many children do this I was informed). No need to worry about the constipation that is becoming a regular (no pun intended) occurance. Just give her papaya twice daily, it will be 'her' food. Oh, and those enemas her surgeon insisted she have if she hasn't had a bowel movement in 48 hours...that is too often. You CANNOT do them but every 72 hours at most, in fact, no enema use a suppository instead, enema is hard on the bowels. No, she doesn't get a prescription for saline, even though you are out, use pedia-lax. But what is in pedia-lax I asked, the pediatrition said "I don't know". Can I get a prescription for the saline then? She asked "Do you even need a prescription for the saline?" Yes. "No, use the pedia-lax or baby fleet".

We took Holly home, made some calls, found that she had a standing prescription for saline, picked it up and snickered wickedly.

But then the day became night, and I went to a meeting. Dean went to dinner with a friend. Amanda was taking care of Holly. She was grumpy, crying like a wild animal in fact and then had a small bowel movement. She went to sleep. Woke up again, cried like a banshee, had another small bowel movement and shook with pain when her bottom was wiped. Then she woke again, screaming hesterically with yet again, another small bowel movement. Dean came home and I was not long behind him. We found Amanda, upset, with Hollyse on the changing table screaming like someone had tried to do surgery with no anesthesia. I took over, immediately gave her a liquid suppository because I thought there is no way I am getting 35 ccs of saline in her with her screaming and writhing like this. She bawled for another 10 minutes, then had a blow out, then another, and another...and then another in the morning. She quivered and writhed as we wiped her bottom. It was burned from the acidity.

Ya, good thing I didn't wait 72 hours dear doctor who is ignorant of Hirschsprungs.

I mean really? Seriously? Ignore the surgeon and do what you say? I just don't see that happenin' ma'am. I mean, the surgeon is her doctor, and I mean he is THE man. No Hirschsprung patient can be without one excellent surgeon. He's the 'go to' man.

You, my friend, are fired.

Happy Birthday to my best friend....

Happy birthday Dean-O! You are such a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, son, and friend!
We are privileged to share your special day.

Much love from those that share Chez Waldon with you.

Intentional Planner

This planner is incredible. I know I have said it a few times already, but you really can't understand until you get one.

You will not regret it!

Planning, and Menus, and Diapers Oh My!

I have been planning lots. It is the only way to get through the holidays with some sanity left. So, I plan. I have been planning school, meals, shower time, holidays, laundry times, housework in general times...just a whole lotta planning. Honestly, I find that keeping on top of my schedule really keeps things running smoothly.

One of the biggest deterents to scheduling is the phone, another is the computer. I tend to avoid both knowing it will suck me in. If a friend calls, I want to talk. If I get online to check on something, then before I know what's happened I have gone down one seriously long rabbit trail. If you are anything like me then you completely get what I am saying and might just be cringing just a little bit. I mean, it is rather shameful that an adult can't manage his or her time on the internet and phone, but you are not alone.

Every fall I pull out my Saving Dinner

because it is a really great resource for those times when you don't have time to plan out a weeks worth of well rounded dinners. The cookbook is broken up into four categories: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer with eight weeks of menus in each category. Each week also includes a grocery list, nutrition information, and serving suggestions that are seasonally appropriate. The recipes don't call for canned (fake) food but fresh ingredients. We eat many more seasonal foods since using this cookbook than ever before. Now, in all truthfulness there have been a few recipes that we didn't particularly care for (and that is saying something since my children will eat most everything including sushi, yes all of them). But all in all it is worth its weight in gold.

Last Friday, August 7 to be exact, I put in a couple of orders. One of them was to


Glabal Enfante...They offered free shipping. Guess what arrived Monday, 3 days later? My order! I was surprised, and very. I like natural fabrics on my baby and so I do like the wool covers. Global Enfantes carries Sugar Peas


I put in an order about a month on Saturday, August 1st to Cotton Babies and my order arrived on Friday, August 7th. What is worse is the small print with Cotton Babies, a 10% restocking fee for all returns. Sorry Cotton Babies, I am moving on up to Global Enfante! I put in yet another order to Glabal Enfante, because they have NO restocking fee and care about customer service;) I will return the one item that was too big without a penalty for being a customer. Plus, I put in an order for an extra special something that I will share about when it arrives.

I have used cloth with all my children. To be honest, I used a diaper service for six months with my first two, but the next two I used cloth with through potty training. Now, with Holly, we had so much going on medically that I didn't use them as I normally would have, but we are back on track. Although, I will say with all the extremes (constipation and then the opposite) it is sometimes comical that I add more laundry to my 7 people household. We like cloth, we prefer cloth. Yes, so does my husband, he actually prefers the prefolds with pins...no kidding. We like the Cloth-eez Prefolds at Green Mountain Diapers. So soft and absorbent. The fit is great too. I use a Snappi as I get a much trimmed fit, but dh is better with pins, so we use both. Cloth is really not an increase in work. Think about it, throw a load in the washer when you get low. No running out at night to get diapers. There are so many choices in cloth that your head will spin. You don't even need pins or snappis, buy an all-in-one( a diaper with an attached cover and snaps or velcro closures).

I am very willing to do a give away, by the way. I will just put your name in a bowl Corinne, and draw it out. Any particular colors you were hoping for?

Completed project pictures

Another pair of Amy Butler pants for Hollyse...love those baby feet.



Noelle chose her font as well. I love how classic and feminine it is.



This is the bag I freezer paper stenciled for Carter Man. I allowed him to choose the font. I really like it, doesn't it look like typewriter print?

Homeschool planning...

I am hoping to wrap up my planning this last week. The operative word here is 'hoping'.

In all honesty, it likely won't happen, but I can dream.

I am actually enjoying the planning and taking my sweet time with it. I have all month and I have ordered almost everything except a couple things for Jacob. He is taking some tutorials this year. I am excited for him to get to know some other kids around the country and learn from someone other than dad and I. Actually, I fully plan on sitting through the classes with him and learning something myself.

We are going back to our Classical Education roots! When we moved I slacked off, mostly due to lack of support locally for this particular method. I didn't give it up completely but enough to be somewhat ashamed;)

I am just seeing that Classical works. It really does. It is actually a rather enjoyable approach.

Hollyse had a tough week. It was just, hard for her. Not only was she teething, but she had some pretty severe constipation. Her tummy just kept getting bigger until I had to intervene. Needless to say, she had a day of clearing herself out that left her tush red.

As a mommy, it always feels like you've failed if your baby has a rash. You feel as though everyone knows you 'must never change that kids diaper with a rash like that'...but with Hirschsprungs, a rash is a regular occurence. The surgeon told us to expect it, the other mommies who have children with this disease tell you to expect it. But, I still wince every time her bottom is red. In all honesty, she has been 100% less rashy than we expected and her surgeon is thrilled. But I still feel like a bad mommy. It never fails someone always has to mention how "my children rarely get rashes." Well gee, thanks for the encouragement. I think maybe the teething isn't helping either.

By the way, she has TWO teeth now, and she waves 'hi' and says "hahhh"...I love her so stinking much. She really is brilliant you know. What other baby at four months could grab their pacifier and put it in their mouth? What a genius!

I am digging that Intentional Planner. I am telling you, do your mommy self a favor and get one. I am editing and printing and organizing and planning like a nut. It is just wonderful!!!

I want to do a give away. I would like to make another quilt and give it away. It was such a fun project.

What do you think, should I distract myself with another sewing project for a give away?

I will never get my planning done if I keep this up....

I Won!

I am so excited that I won this helpful planner!

I have been playing around with it the last few days between sewing and school planning. Honestly, this is such a great tool for busy homeschool moms. I cannot encourage you enough to get one. Sheri Graham really did a great job with this planner. I have another planner she wrote here
I use it every year to plan my Thanksgiving and Christmas. Check them out!

I have been working on that quilt I shared in my last post. It is done! I am so pleased with how well it turned out. This was a very simple project that I feel a tremendous amount of satisfaction. In the photos above Hollyse is actually sitting on the blanket.

I also made Hollyse several pairs of little pants using the kimono style pajama bottoms in Amy Butler's Little stitches for Little Ones. These little pants took me literally 30 minutes, start to finish. The instructions were fool proof (trust me I would know). You can see in the above photos how sweet they are. I am making another pair in flannel.

I also did a stenciled book bag using freezer paper. Very cool.

I know that Summer is getting short so I am eager to finish many more projects before the start of school.

We use our crock pot quite a bit in the Fall and Winter months for easy, healthy, hearty meals. One frustrating situation I encounter with crock pot cook books is the use of canned soups. In particular, creamed, canned soups. I have one child who is lactose intolerant and another I suspect may have a dairy allergy. Why all the cheating in cook books? How about meals from scratch. All that to say I have been digging around the internet for how made recipes without the use of pre-made ingredients.

If you have any to share that would be lovely!

Two days in a row....

Are you amazed? I am. I don't know whats going on.

What a day! Some of the littles played in the sprinklers and one of them had many dirty diapers (guess which one). It always amazes me how quickly this child will get a rash if she has more than one dirty diaper a day. I do not have 100% confirmation through her Dr but another HD mom said after the pull through their poop is more acidic. Time and again it seems to be proving the case. Anyhow. Enough of that.

Let's move on to what I want to complain about.

Hmmm.
Let me think....
Uhhhh, well.
Yeah.

I have nothing. I suppose I could dig from other days but I won't.

I have a couple of projects right now that I am really wanting to finish. The first is this

I am actually about fifteen rows in, but I am ripping that baby tonight. I am just not happy with the center. I am knitting it in this using Rosebush.
Now, let me start that I am a yarn snob. I don't care for synthetic yarns but I just thought this would be a fun and quick knitting project. We'll see.

The project I am really jazzed about is this
I love this quilt and having never quilted in my life. I thought this looked simple enough. I'll post a pic when I finish.

Amanda is the computer geek around here and has been helping make some much needed changes to our blog.

Keep a look out!