Cincinnati Update

I know several of you have been waiting to hear how our appointments in Cincinnati went. So here goes:

- Bethany - We had an echocardiogram and EKG for Beth first thing Tuesday morning. The cardiologist said that she does show some anomolies, but nothing concerning, and certainly nothing to cause him to think that cardiac issues are at the root of the breathing problems she is having. This is good and bad news. Good because her heart is fine. Bad because we still do not know what is going on.

- Mercy - Her appointment was GREAT. We are approaching a year on the propranalol for her hemangioma. I plan an in depth photo post in a couple weeks of where we have come from. I know many of you pray for her daily, and I appreciate each and every one of those prayers. She looks WONDERFUL. Dr. Adams said that we are ready to start talking dates for the plastic surgery. This is good news. In April we will see the whole team, and I anticipate we will look at when we can do the surgeries. FINALLY we are starting to really see the end of this phase in our lives.

It was harrowing driving in the snow, but we made it to the hospital and home safely. As for me, I'm ready for some global warming. Brrr...!

Thankful for Bethany

(This is being linked to the current photo challenge here . )

The other night Bethie woke up quite early in the morning. And cried. And wouldn't be comforted. So finally I got her up and laid with her on the new sofa. And we snuggled.



At other times in my life I may have resented being up with a fussy baby while everyone else got to be sleeping. I knew as I was laying there with her that it would make for a very long day when all the kids woke up and started the day.

But this time I didn't mind. I laid there and treasured the moments. Because just a month earlier we were in the living room, and all the sudden Matt said, "Mama- Beth looks funny." I looked over there and she was laying on her back, not breathing.

All rational though leaves when you see your baby turn blue.




I thought maybe she had choked on something, so I snatched her limp body and tried to remember how to do the Heimlich. I couldn't. I couldn't remember that, I couldn't remember how to do CPR. I couldn't think straight about anything except that my baby wasn't breathing.

She finally started coughing weakly and then breathing normally again. She was dazed for a half hour or so, but soon returned to normal. I don't think I have yet accomplished the same thing.

We went to a pediatric neurologist who ran an EEG... it showed nothing. He sent us to cardiology to do an EKG and that turned up abnormal. So far we don't know anything since we don't see the cardiologist until next Tuesday. It may be a glitch in the machine, and all may be fine. It may be something else. We still have to wait to see. She had a second episode of not breathing just two days ago. I'm a little on edge, to say the least.

So that early morning, Bethie and I laid there and snuggled, and I thanked God that she was here to hug. And I listened to her babble... "Anna. Doggie. Cow. Cat. Meow. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?" and on and on and on. But just as I was rubbing her back and reveling in her sweet warmth I heard, "Mommy. I love you Mommy."



And that is what being a Mama is all about. I love you too, Bethie.

Snow Day! With lots of photos!

It's a white, wintery day here in Kentucky. My children are having fun playing in more white stuff than they have ever seen.



They had a grand time eating it.



And getting cold in it. Please don't mention anything about the mismatched gloves. I was just happy everyone could find two gloves.

Some of us were wise and watched the fun from inside.







And sisters come visit at the window.



I love this one the best... but it is out of focus.





I love the views from our house, no matter what the season.



Sara is a budding photographer. She wants to start posting her photos to the blog also.



I don't have a macro lense or this would be more in focus, but still... snowflakes!



Look how little Anna looks under the tree!



And a little closer. She tricked me and told me she was standing up... but she wasn't.

A Tea Party with Papa

Recently Sara and Eric were able to take the time to have a tea party.



She requested he read her this book... so sweet.

Story of a Demolition. And the subsequent Remodel.

So here's the story of the Great Peterson Demolition and how we got there. We have been talking about replacing the nasty carpet for years. Carpet is just not conducive to 12 people on a farm.

This building was originally the milking parlor of an old barn (well, actually it was the wood of another old barn across town I've heard...) so the floor wasn't laid quite smoothly enough to put laminate down. Or hardwood, for that matter. So we bought a vinyl which looks quite realistically like wood.

Then we got down to business and I made mistake of saying, "While we are at it and don't care if we get paint on the carpet, we should paint the walls and trim too." And to get even crazier, since I have hated the popcorn on the ceiling ever since we moved in... I suggested sweetly that we take it down and repaint the ceiling, too.

So- we did. Boy was that a job. First we had to peel it all off.



Then vacuum it up. Then basically do a drywall patch job on the ceiling. Then paint it. All before we could do the walls.



And did I mention the children were here to "help" for most of it? So we painted the hallway a gold color... Empire Gold to be exact. I tried to get the color from the website, but they wouldn't let me copy it so you can go look there and look at it. So far I don't have a great photo of the hallway... sorry.




Then we painted most of the rest of the walls "Ponytail" tan... with our "helpers." Ahem.



Isn't she adorable with that little tongue sticking out?



They loved helping us paint. And going out to eat three times. That is not something we usually do since it is so expensive.

Then we took a deep breath and started the last wall... and painted it a bright red.



I was a bit nervous as Eric did the whole wall completely silently. I was sure he hated it. Then he stepped back and said, "You're a genius, Babe. It looks great."

Here's a photo of the two walls showing the red and the tan.



And isn't he talented? He paints... he holds babies. What a guy!



Emma helped put the switchplates back on in the hall. You can sort of see the gold color.



Then we had to wait a bit to get the floor put in. Like a week. But it eventually got put in.



And it looks wonderful.

Here is my kitchen. Note the red wall (note that this is all being underlined and I don't know why or how to stop it...)



Here's from the steps... looking straight.



Here's from the steps looking left. (The kitchen is just out of the picture on the left.)



And my red wall just makes me so happy.



Oh yeah... see the tan sofas? These were a find on goLSN - we bought them for an anniversary gift. They make me happy too. And the desk to the right of the photo? That's where my computer is... where I sit and drink my coffee, read my e-mails, look outside, and try to ignore the chaos that is happening right behind me. Like right now.

Sam's New Favorite Place

Sam loves being in the backpack, even if it's not going anywhere.



His sisters see the camera out and join in on the fun.



He's not sure he likes that idea.



Anyone read a Calvin and Hobbes lately? Love he facial expression.

ReRun: How to Carry a PlayPen in Your Purse

Time to get into this routine again... Bethany needs training in this area, and soon enough Sam will be needing it too!

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I have had many, many children over the years. And from the looks of it, I will have a few more before I am done. I have had toddlers in the house for well over a decade. Currently we have two toddlers…and a 4-year-old who is ALL BOY. ‘Nuff said. The three of them can derail any attempt to get anything done in about 3.5 seconds.

Since I also have 6 school-age children, it is important that we have a few moments of peace every once in a while. Especially when doing things like school. We also have the little children with us when on activities, and in places we would have skipped if we didn’t have older children.

Out of desperation we needed to figure out how to keep them under control while not always being able to bring along three pack-n-plays. OK — so I never bring along a pack-n-play to soccer. I do, however, have a playpen in my purse.

I have trained my little children to stay on a blanket. Some people have specific blankets for their children; we just use whatever is available. But that bottom line is that they know they cannot leave the blanket. This is so much easier than chasing after them all over creation.

How do I do it? It’s actually very easy. When they are babies, I just lay them on it, and marvel at what geniuses they are…those little infants never push the boundaries and try to get off.

Then they get a bit older and start to roll, I just put them back in the middle. When they start to crawl, I keep a wooden spoon nearby and smack the floor any time they get near the edge. (I never hit the baby, just make a loud noise on the floor.) The noise scares them and soon they know that if they get too close to the edge, they don’t like the noise.

Before long, they just stay there. I work on it every week, several times a week, and they do well with it. During school hours, I will put out two blankets for the 4- and 2-year olds, and put a specific bin of toys for each of them. They play with these toys for 20 to 30 minutes, then I switch the bins or let them outside to run, whatever.

Be consistent and this can work wonders in your home. You can bring your blanket(s) to church, to meetings, to the library, to soccer, wherever you want them to sit still and be quiet.

Try it! You’ll like it!