Painting

The landlady had a termite inspection now that the rainy season's past. Sure enough, there were some under the house, by the office. So, they sprayed, and ended up removing the old wood paneling in the office (circa 1979 I think it said, by the inscription on the wall "Dona loves Freddy") because the little bugs had climbed up to eat that. Thankfully, not the beams in the wall, though.

That left some ugly walls in desperate need of paint. Ben wanted the job done right, not just done, and to pick the color, so we're painting today. It was a close decision between Robin's Egg Blue and Light Turquoise (really, they're practically the same, the turquoise has just a hint of green when you hold the chips next to each other). The latter won out in the end.

We also took the cottage cheese off the ceiling and painted it white. The room is looking so much better!

We finished the first coat late, so I aim to get pics in the day light.

Grow in Spurts

New moms never get the whole story.

If the midwife or doctor is good, s/he may explain the day 10 dropoff. After baby's born, mom makes colostrum exclusively. About day 3-5, the milk comes in (note: the more frequently baby nurses, the less severe engorgement). Mom seems over full at this point, milk practically spewing out her.. ears.

Come day 10 and suddenly baby is wanting to nurse like crazy. What does it mean? Many women think they've gone dry (not likely), or can't produce enough for the baby! In reality, baby's having the first growth spurt. Baby nurses more to encourage Mommy to make more milk.

When I lived in the UK, they called this phenomenon "Marathon Nursing" and I was told to expect it every 3-6 weeks. For my babies, it seems there a big marathon session every 6 weeks, and a littler one halfway (3weeks).

What they didn't mention was that the baby, during this time, becomes almost zomby-like and will continue nursing until it feels like s/he may be drinking your life essence through your chest..

What they do say (to remedy that) is to be sure to have a snack and drink at hand. Making food for another person is hard work, and very taxing. Enjoy the reward of a healthy little!

Plush Panda

I squeezed the toy, but it didn't talk. How odd, there's a voice box in there somewhere, "Maybe it's out of batteries." I tried again, squeezing hard in the chest area and finally we heard, "I love you, I love you, I love you." Miss B was relieved her precious panda still spoke. I handed it over and she squeezed. Nothing. Miss A reached over and squeezed. They squeezed together, then, "ffft.."

"You squeezed so hard, it farted!"

Short Day

Saturday was so pleasant. I left early, almost everyone else was asleep, for the Women's Mini-Conference at church. The theme was Come Away My Beloved, and it was a wonderful reminder to take the time apart to pray and be in the Word, as well as having that devotional time with the family.

When I made it home, we slowly got to lunch at the park, then decided on the rest of the day. We stopped by the garden supply store (nursery), and picked up the needed mulch and garden soil, and a few more plants.

A Breath of Sunshine

It's a gorgeous day in California (like usual). The birds are singing, the leaves are whispering in the breeze, the children are donning swimsuits.

I took a few minutes in the garden and found the onions are bolting- It's been a cool, wet spring- I plucked the largest one and will use it for some chicken stew tonight.

The celery is starting to look like it has joints. That should be ready for eating come early June.

The strawberries need mulching! Fantastic juicy strawberries in the dirt (sigh). Making a list for the weekend (mulch, irrigation system, timer).

What in the world did I plant? They're growing well.. Let's see..

Radishes!! T.J.'s gonna love this!

We're trying hay as mulch for the potatoes. Last year, I gave them a go in soil, but it was too heavy and they didn't produce. I'm aiming to peek next month and see how they're doing. I think we have early and mid season. Here's hoping they produce!

The artichokes in the background are for Ben, they've got good deep soil in that pot. And, yeah, I've got some serious weeding to do!!

Have you seen the pretty compost container Ben made? It's one of his first wood projects and worked out nicely here.

Cookie Man

Today is all about getting the Little Guy to eat. Something. He doesn't want to, but he's screaming, fussy, miserable. Yesterday, I gave him gelatin-laced broth in the morning, and he ate some of the carrot cookies his big brother baked, and some rice last night. Today, he's been at odds with edibles. Maybe I should heat up some broth again.

I'm so grateful he still nurses.

Miss C has been nibbling at bananas like some mouse, leaving half or more behind. Last night I had 2 halves and a 3/4. I set them aside for baking today. Since Little Guy has been willing to take a few bites of cookie, but not much else, I've been looking for cookies full of healthy stuff, like veggies.

Today's recipe is for banana cookies.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_cookies/

Force Fed

It's amazing how a little rice can perk up a hungry child. After close to 48 hours with hardly a bite, Little Guy reluctantly ate the soft rice I pushed into his mouth. After that, he was a normal toddler for most of the evening.

It's another story this morning. He wouldn't eat his cereal, just brushed it to the floor. His nose is stuffy again. I'm hoping for teething..

T.J.'s been such a helper this week. He's put together or cooked a couple simple meals, and yesterday he baked cookies!

I've got to go. Miss C and Little Guy are fighting over my lap.

Mending Slowly

Perhaps I shouldn't have gone out, but we needed groceries. More than anything, I could have given better instructions. Do Not Overfill Infant.

Dad called while I was out. Little Guy hadn't puked in 3 hours. Though Ben got him to while I was out and he got out whatever else the girls had fed him when I got back -all over me.

Also, Miss A, the oldest girl (AKA, #2), was sitting in bed with a bleeding nose when I got home! Ben got her stopped, and I started another load of laundry.

I have to do short nursings with Little Guy, then burp him, give him a couple minutes, and try again. It's almost like having a gigantic walking newborn. He's sleeping now, mostly peacefully.

Tonight's goal is to have enough absorbant towels handy to make it to morning.

Ailing Infant

Screaming and writhing, he thrashed in my arms. When I heard his screams, I had hurried to the room, he was standing by the table throwing up. The older children had Risk on the table, soldiers scattered across the floor. Did he swallow one?

I examined the contents of the mess on the floor: cheese, rice, carrots, no soldiers. Miss C had been ill last week, and Miss B has complained on and off of feeling sick. Is this just the flu?

I called the doctor's office, but they had just closed. I tried the on-call number, they said they would page the doctor.

He kept screaming and throwing up on and off for most of an hour. Suddenly, he calmed and fell asleep on me, exhausted.

He woke around 7:30PM, nursed and got down to play. After a short while, he screamed and it started again. Now there were red streaks in his diaper. He would have a sip of water, thankfully, but nothing else while he was feeling so poorly.

He went to sleep about 9PM, Ben and I talked it over and I called the on-call number again. They took the info again, and I let her know about the blood, and that the doctor hadn't called me yet. "If he doesn't call in 15 minutes, call me right back." in 20 minutes (I had to take care of the Little Guy), I called again. There must be a couple of operators because the Voice took the info again.. Ben called and spoke to the operator and let me know they didn't know why the doctor wasn't answering pages, and they would call the triage nurse that comes on at 10PM. Finally, my phone rang. I repeated the info again, saying that he could have swallowed a seriously pointy game piece, or it could be the flu or a food allergy (or combination!?), and that he has red mucousy stool. She didn't seem concerned and told me that the current flu has vomiting for no more than 24 hours and to keep an eye on him and give him sips of Pedialyte (he still nurses, so I ignored that because my milk is much better for baby.. Unless it's the milk allergy? We both had cheese and ice cream yesterday, and it takes 2-6 weeks to get the bovine protein out of the system).

He slept, threw up, and nursed in fits the rest of the night/morning. Ben took T.J. with him to keep the house calmer for the day. The nurse called and we set up an appointment for this afternoon. I washed the sheets and gave him a bath, and he was doing okay. I made pancakes for the girls' breakfast finally around 11AM!

As we were finishing, I heard the scream again. T.J.'s room was open and there was his scrap collection All Over The Floor, and the Little Guy lying down in/next to it vomiting. I checked him as best as I could for swallowed objects, again, and started tossing the junk. He had another messy diaper, worse than the previous ones, which I've wrapped up for the appointment.

Right now, I really want to get the laundry going again, but Little Guy is asleep on my lap, he's so flush (red faced). We'll be leaving in half an hour or so.

Quiet Weekend

Happy Mother's Day. What are your plans? I'm thinking barbeque, if Ben and the older children make it home by afternoon. I was able to sleep in a whole hour and am snuggling with the 2 little girls while I type this on my phone. Little Guy is crawling about, encouraging us to get up and go make him some breakfast. I was thinking crepes, but the girls are asking for chocolate chip pancakes.

Ben took the older 2 with him yesterday to visit his Dad. We have a few things to do up there, but love to visit regardless. I wasn't able to go because I have Study Group every other weekend right now. I don't like to miss it, even if I don't get much done, because it encourages me to keep going.

Gotta get up and get going with my main job. Career moms are always in high demand.

Direction

Mom date: Tuesday.

My computer is half buried, and I haven't been crafting, so I haven't felt compelled to dig out the computer and post.

I've been thinking of a change of direction for the blog, though. I've added a blogging app to my phone and hope it may be reasonable to think I'll be able to blog more easily this way.

So, I'm thinking of taking the "Full of Stitches" thing from another angle: laughter. What do you think of a blog about a family? Dad, mom, 5 children. Our adventures in coffee, or whatever. How I survive another budget crisis, when I'm down to flour, tuna & a sweet potato. What happens when everyone wants to cook on the same 2 feet square of counter at the Same Time.

Let me know. I'm getting curiouser & curiouser...