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Literary Mondays: Precious words to grow by

2012-02-27T15:38:00.000-06:00

Last week, I shared my thoughts on Elisabeth Elliot's book, A Path Through Suffering. It seems that I continually have a dear friend who is going through an especially trying time, but every month or two, the suffering friend is someone different. Whether you're in the trial now or you've come through a rough period, I hope you find these words as precious and encouraging as I do.

"I pray that I may be responding now to all the Lord's dealings, for I know that the best fruit will be what is produced by the best-pruned branch. The strongest steel will be that which went through the hottest fire and the coldest water. The deepest knowledge of God's presence will have been acquired in the deepest river or dungeon or lion's den. The greatest joy will have come forth out of the greatest sorrow."

Elisabeth Elliot, A Path Through Suffering, p. 156-157

Take heart, my friend. He is faithful.

Literary Mondays: A Path Through Suffering

2012-02-20T15:56:00.001-06:00

A Path Through Suffering was written by Elisabeth Elliot and was originally published in 1990. In the spring of 2011, a friend loaned it to me, and I'm still not sure if she knows that at the time, I was in the middle of a swamp of depression.

This book is, by far, one of the most incredible books you could possibly read. If you have not experienced deep pain yet, then you will. It's important to develop a right view of God and suffering before you go through it.

A Treasure Just for Me
I want to write a book review, not write a post about depression, so I won't belabor this point too much, but I do want to fill you in a bit. In March, we nearly lost our son, who wasn't quite six weeks old. It was a jolt, a trauma, for our family. I held it together during the two weeks when we lived in a children's hospital, confident in God's sovereignty, but when we came home, the reality of it all hit completely and fully, and I fell apart for a few months. I know that the depression was triggered by Andrew's emergency lung surgery, but I also feel it was something like postpartum depression, since I had just given birth.

It was somewhere in this dark period when Ann loaned me this book, and I'm in the last several pages of the book right now. Why has it taken so long to read such a good book? Elisabeth Elliot writes gems, with treasures to be mined. When I read two pages of this book, I have to stop and reflect. Sometimes I reflect on God's truth and mull over it, and other times, I'm brought back to one of the nights when I thought my baby would die. And I praise God for the trial, as well as the comfort He provided in the aftermath.

So I've read this book very slowly and thoughtfully, sometimes not picking it up for weeks, as I've gotten busy with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other big events with the kiddos. And then I come back to it, and I sigh at the stories she shares of others who have suffered, and her amazing application of scripture.

The Book Itself
Elisabeth Elliot begins each chapter with an excerpt from Lilias Trotter's Parables of the Cross, in which Trotter views plant life and the way that seeds must die to form new life. Plant analogies pepper the book, since suffering is also a time of pruning in our lives.

Elliot herself, as you probably know, is well acquainted with suffering. She begins her book by sharing a conversation she had with her daughter:

What was I, a jungle missionary, to say to my own child of two when she learned the song "Jesus Loves Me" and wanted to know whether Jesus had loved her daddy too? I gave her the truth: yes. Next question: Then why did He let the Auca Indians kill him? (p 20)

Throughout her book, Elisabeth Elliot has interwoven stories of women she has known, missionaries, and letters that have been written to her, along with scripture, to show God's beauty and perfect plan in suffering. She also shares how she and others have dealt with the pain of suffering.

She also defines suffering in a way that few people do: Essentially, it's wanting what you don't have or not wanting what you do have. Maybe you want a nicer home, a more godly husband, or you wish your child didn't have a certain diagnosis, be it a behavioral disorder or a health issue that will plague him for his entire life. And then there are others with cancer. Everyone suffers, although it often seems that some suffer more than others.

Elliot writes: We may look at the various ways in which each of us is called to suffer as the Master Designer's shaping of the vessels meant to bear the seed of the divine life. The design of each is directly related to the function, and thus He gives to each something unique to offer, something no other is capable of rendering back to Him. (p 132).

She answers objections to this view of suffering: Rise to a new plane? Live our new lives with Him? "But we have to live in the real world! We need something more practical!"

Nothing is more real and practical than the Word of God. This world is not more real than the other world. It won't last nearly as long. (pp 138-139)

Should you read this book, you'll find your walk with God deepened, your faith strengthened, and your confidence rooted in the Lord and His word.

The Sippy Cup and Milk Conundrum, or My Crazy Children

2012-02-17T15:52:00.002-06:00

I keep thinking "Surely I'm not the only one with this problem." Then I tell someone about my picky, weirdo kids, and I determine that maybe I AM the only one. So let me share with you and you can help me decide. And if, by chance, someone else ends up with this same problem, then they'll know what we did.

Here's the problem. I have two kids. When each of them has turned one, they have pretty much refused to drink milk.

With my first, I tried mixing it with breastmilk.

I tried letting it reach room temperature.

I even tried mixing it with chocolate.

After a month of her refusals, I finally had an epiphany.

Change the sippy cup.

Here's the background information. First of all, I nurse my kids until they're 1 or longer. I rarely give bottles of pumped milk to the babies. Bottles are just not worth the hassle and my youngest baby even refused to drink out of bottles, so it's not even an option. We go from nursing to a sippy cup with nothing in between, so there's not bottle attachment to deal with.

By the time the babies reach one, they're only nursing a few times a day. The rest of their fluid intake comes from a sippy cup of water, which I usually introduce around 6-8 months of age. Juice is also a hassle to me. It's an added cost and inconvenience, and it's also not very healthy. But that's another story.

The bottom line is that my kids aren't used to drinking anything but water from their sippy cups.

Now I'm super picky and struggle with perfectionism. It bothers me to deviate from my routine too much. I can handle deviating a little bit, if you give me 24 hour notice or something...that's my version of being flexible. I'm not a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of gal. Unfortunately, my daughter has inherited this trait.

When Isabelle puzzled me with her milk refusals, I had my epiphany because I finally started thinking like a baby. I was giving her the same old sippy cups but when she lifted them up to gulp it down, she discovered some strange beverage that she wasn't used to. It's kind of like when I'm served Coke instead of Dr. Pepper. Coke is great, and I like it from time to time, but if I'm expecting DP and I taste Coke, my first reaction is going to be yuck! This is how Isabelle responded too.

I bought a new sippy cup for Isabelle's milk and that did the trick. She's still that way too. When she was 25 months old, Andrew was born. Damian left the hospital to go home and take a shower. My sister approached him, perplexed because Isabelle would not drink anything! He took one look at the cups and said "You've got it backwards. You can't put water in the milk cup or milk in the water cup. She'll never drink it."

And Andrew? We only had about one week of this not drinking milk nonsense. First, I had to switch the milk, thanks to a dairy allergy. Once I settled on coconut milk, I started trying out various sippy cups we already had, but he wouldn't tolerate it. I even gave him the coconut milk through a syringe, just to see if he liked it. He loved it and would whine for more, but refused to have it from a cup. Finally, I bought a new, completely different sippy cup. One with a straw. The next day, he started pumping down the coconut milk.

Now that he's drinking milk well, it's time to wean, baby, wean! Normally, I would not be in a hurry to wean, but with another baby on the way, I'd love to have a short break from nursing. I know that some of you who did extended nursing or tandem nursing probably think I'm a wimp, and that's OK. I've been pregnant, nursing, or both since 2008. Call me selfish, but I want a little break.

So has anyone else dealt with this sippy cup and milk issue, or is it just my strange Daigle children?

Update on Baby-Led Weaning

2012-02-07T15:23:00.001-06:00

It has been over four months since I've shared anything about Baby-Led Weaning.  In this case, no news is definitely good news; our baby turned one last weekend and is a wonderful eater.

Andrew was 8 months old the last time I wrote about following the BLW method. Remember, this method involves primarily giving your baby finger foods and table foods as early as 6 months, rather than using pureed baby food. You can view one of my earlier BLW posts for more information.

As Andrew got older, the approach seemed less novel and more normal. It's pretty normal to see a 10 month old feeding himself, but it's rare to see an 8 month old chomping on pear slices, apple slices, and chunks of grilled fish.

He really hasn't been limited by his lack of teeth. His two bottom teeth came in around 6 months of age. One of his top incisors came in at some point a couple of months ago, but until recently, that was the extent of his teeth.  Over the past two weeks, a few more top teeth have been popping through his gums. So he's been a slow teether, but it hasn't kept him from eating table food one bit.

What does BLW look like on a daily basis?

Last week, we went out for dinner at Amigo Juan, my favorite tex-mex restaurant in town. As I viewed the menu, I realized that I needed to order something that Andrew could eat too, instead of just worrying about feeding me and Izzy. I settled on the fajitas, which I love anyway. Andrew pigged out on fajita chicken, charro beans, and spanish rice. He was the primary reason I ordered charro beans instead of refried beans. My boy also loves the Mongolian beef at our favorite Chinese restaurant.

For dinner last night, I gave Andrew a homemade dinner roll. Then I prepared a bowl of rice, roast, potatoes and cooked carrots. I mixed it up and dumped it on his high chair tray so that he could feed himself. When I make something like soup, I either plan an alternative meal for Andrew or (more likely), I just strain out the broth and give Andrew the meat and veggies for his dinner.

This works out best because Andrew is really not happy unless he's eating the same thing as the rest of the family. He whines and screeches as soon as a new (hot) dish is brought to the table and is quite unhappy until he has the same food as everyone else. Don't worry, we're working on that whole whining and screeching business! I'm ready for Andrew to finally pick up the sign language we've been demonstrating. It always seems to help prevent whining.

Lunch time for Andrew often consists of leftovers from dinner. Izzy typically has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and I haven't been ready to introduce peanut butter yet. So for Andrew, I either give him leftovers or he has a bit of a snacky lunch--crackers, cheese, fruit, maybe a veggie or meat.   I do feed him applesauce sometimes, because it's a very convenient food. Sometimes I make a grilled cheese sandwich for each of us.

What are his favorite foods?
Andrew eats like a little man. He loves meat and potatoes, as well as just about any vegetable. He really enjoys grilled chicken or beef in any form, typically pot roast or something along those lines, since we don't do a whole lot of ground beef around here. He's not a big fan of bananas but he does enjoy strawberries and apples as well as other fruit. His absolute favorite thing to eat in the whole world is oranges. He loves satsumas, clementines, or any other tangerine-like fruit.

Would I do it again?
Without a doubt, yes I would. It was incredibly easy. It's only strange for those first few months, but as time goes on, you feel like you don't have to be so creative to find things that the baby can feed himself. Since life only seems to get more hectic as our family grows, I will definitely use this method for baby #3.

Andrew is a better eater than his big sister. I don't know if it's personality or if it's because of doing BLW, because he was and is a good nurser too. So it's hard to attribute his good eating habits to BLW, but I'm sure it has helped.

My boy loves food. That said, he's a pretty lean baby. He looks very proportionate, and he is, but he's been in about the 10th percentile or so for the past several months. Our kids seem to be pretty lean, but our pediatrician says that's a good thing and that they're very healthy kids. With BLW, Andrew gets to control his portions completely, so we know he's eating as much as he wants. I also love the transition from nursing to BLW--in both ways of feeding, the baby completely controls his portions.

If you're interested in trying BLW, do check out the book. I wouldn't have felt comfortable with trying such a unique way of feeding my baby without reading the book. After all, I know absolutely no one else who has done this method of introducing solids. I read about it on several blogs, so the online mommy blogging community was a huge help in motivating me to try it.  La Leche League's Womanly Art of Breastfeeding also mentions the idea of letting babies self-feed, which gave me the impression that it's a natural, normal thing to do, although in reality, I don't know anyone who has actually done it.

I really found BLW to be a low-pressure, fun way of introducing solids. That alone makes it worth doing again.  But if you factor in the health benefits, it becomes an even more fascinating subject for consideration.

Update: Without knowing about my blog topic today, my husband came home from work this evening and told me about an article he read that says spoon-feeding puts babies at a higher risk for obesity. Here's a slightly longer article that says the same thing. While it's not guaranteed to prevent obesity, I think it definitely makes BLW worth considering.

Any questions or thoughts about BLW? We have absolutely loved this method of feeding our baby, and I would encourage anyone who is expecting to consider this as well. It just doesn't get any easier!

This post is part of The Humbled Homemaker's Healthy 2Day Wednesday Link-Up!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

2012-02-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

Happy first birthday to Andrew Jay, my sweet baby boy!

You are a blessing, a joy, and a total miracle from God.

This has been a great year and a tough year, but without the pain of nearly losing you, we wouldn't know what it is to be comforted and held completely by our Lord.

Minutes old.

Six weeks old, in ICU.

Seven weeks old, in surgical recovery.

I love watching you play. You're so happy as you investigate everything, rolling cars around and turning the pages of your board book. It's sweet to hear you trying to sing songs along with me and your sister. Nothing makes you happier than to discover one of your big sister's favorite toys left unattended, because you just relish getting to hold something that belongs to her. And when she asks for it back, you're happy to comply because making her happy also makes you happy. I love listening to you two play and laugh so hard at each other.

You have such a sweet and joyful spirit. Your precious smile and big brown eyes are enough to make anyone melt. Already, I can tell that you have a tender heart and a desire to please your mommy and daddy.

I can't wait to see what kind of young man you'll grow up to be. I pray that you'll desire to please the Lord, to honor Him, and to serve Him every day. I pray for your wife, that she'll be a godly woman, and that the two of you will enter marriage as pure and holy children of God. I pray that you'll delight in the things that delight God, and that you'll have a heart for the lost.

You will know all about your surgery and the day that we nearly lost you. One day, you'll ask about your scars and we'll tell you all about them. They're your Ebenezer stones, left to remind our family that "Thus far the LORD has helped us." I'll continue singing the same songs to you that I sang to you in the hospital, songs of God's goodness and faithfulness, songs that will remind you that He is the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior. We'll continue praying your life verses over you, the same verses that comforted us when we thought we might lose you.

Your name means warrior. At less than six weeks old, you fought for your life. I pray that you'll be God's warrior, fighting for the Lord and winning spiritual battles as you become a man.

A Review of Two Hanging Diaper Pails

2012-02-01T12:08:00.000-06:00

I love my cloth diapers. They're soft, they're adorable, and they have saved my family tons of money. It does take some time to troubleshoot cloth and one challenge is figuring out where to store the diapers once they've been wet or soiled.

When I first started cloth diapering, I simply used my small trash can that served as a diaper pail when we were using disposables. Since the trash can used grocery sacks as trash can liners, it was so small that it only held about a day's worth of cloth diapers, if that. It became quite a hassle, but I also had so few cloth diapers that I was washing every day anyway, so it wasn't too bad. Now that I have about three times as many cloth diapers, grocery sack diaper pails would never cut it.

When I was pregnant with my second baby, Andrew, I finally settled on hanging diaper pails as the best method for me. I love both of my hanging pails so much and I have no idea how I made it without them. Not only do they simplify cloth diapering, but they also remove the biggest problem most people have with cloth diapers, the odor.

FuzziBunz Hanging Diaper Pail

This is the first hanging diaper pail I bought and it's my husband's favorite. It retails for around $20, although I think I bought it for around $15 over a year ago. I went with the buttercream color shown above, so that I would have a gender neutral color that nicely matches the buttercream color in my baby bedding.

It's a very simple wetbag made out of PUL, like most cloth diapers. It's really large and holds about 24 cloth diapers. You can use it to line a diaper pail or you can use it as we do, hanging on a door near the changing table. It has a zipper on the bottom to make it easy to dump the diapers into the washing machine with no contact with the dirty diapers. Oddly enough, because it's open at the top, the odors are not bad because they're not closed up all the time. It also has a small terry cloth patch inside that you can put a dab of essential oils on to control odor.

This is a tip I learned somewhere on my cloth diapering journey. A good quality tea tree oil is wonderful at controlling odors in your diaper pail. You can put a bit onto a cloth wipe or a wash cloth to help with odors and then wash the cloth with the dirty diapers, since tea tree oil is great at killing bacteria. With the FuzziBunz cloth diaper, I can put the oil right onto the little tab inside the bag. The tea tree oil works so well that a cloth diapering friend came over and her first comment when she walked into the nursery was "I don't smell anything! How do you do that??" That's the real test of odor control!

I love the FuzziBunz bag because it's huge and the zippered bottom makes laundry a breeze. My husband loves it because he uses the shake it out method of removing the inserts from the diaper. Basically, you hold one small corner of the diaper and shake the thing to death to get the inserts out, so you never have to touch the wet insert.

Wee Huggers Wee-be-gone Hobo Wet Bag

All it takes is one look at the two pictures to figure out which wet bag I love! I received this one as a baby gift from a dear friend who also uses cloth. She let me pick out which one I wanted, and I went with the ModBeads, again so that it would be fairly gender neutral. At around $30, this one is definitely more of a splurge, but the perks of it are wonderful.

First of all, it has a nice thick pul lining, covered with a fabric that's much more adorable than the FuzziBunz pail. It is also large, but it only holds about 10 or 12 cloth diapers. It has a zipper at the top, which makes this an especially good one for traveling (if you're brave enough to travel with cloth diapers).

But here's the best part. Inside, it has a charcoal patch that completely absorbs the ammonia-like smell of urine. If you're skeptical, please, just trust me. This thing works.

If you're a crafty mama, like several of my cloth diapering friends, then you can always make your own hanging diaper pail and sew one of these Wee-be-gone patches into it. At $7 a pop, they're totally worth it. You can buy one from Pinstripes and Polkadots. If you made your own, you could combine the functionality of the FuzziBunz bag with the adorable look and odor control of the Wee Huggers and end up with the perfect wet pail.

Where do you keep your dirty diapers until wash day? Do you have any tips for reducing odor?

This post is part of The Humbled Homemaker's Healthy 2Day Link-Up as well as Raising Homemaker's Homemaking Link-Up.

Nursing Challenges: Eating for Three

2012-01-23T16:15:00.001-06:00

Who would've thought I would write about nursing challenges when my baby is approaching his first birthday? But it happens. sigh.

We found out in early December that we were expecting our third child. Around week 6 of pregnancy, like clockwork, morning sickness struck with a vengeance. It was just the yucky nausea, but when you're not used to it, it feels completely miserable...until the vomiting begins and then you realize that all-day nausea was the good life.

But what happened with me was that any time I would nurse my baby, I felt an overwhelming wave of nausea that was way above the usual nausea. I can't even explain it except to say that it was a whole different kind of miserable. Sometimes, the simple act of feeding my baby would send me running to the bathroom to lose my lunch.

And that's about the time that it hit me. I'm not eating for two, I'm eating for three. Mommy, Andrew, and the baby bagel that's in the oven.

I googled the subject and found a few things that simply said yes, this happens. No real explanation beyond the usual "hormones," which, if you didn't know, are to blame for pretty much anything during pregnancy. Morning sickness? Hormones. Puffy eyelids? Hormones. Spontaneous combustion? Hormones.

I tried to think of which friends of mine have had kids close together and breastfed. Because breastfeeding can be a great form of birth control (hahahaha, that's funny), my list wasn't too long, but I called a couple of women. And of course, they had never experienced this phenomenon.

In the meantime, breastfeeding my 10 month old was a real act of love because for the first time, I hated it and dreaded it. I didn't want to quit when the goal (1 year) was so close. But even if I did, it wouldn't make sense to introduce formula for two months. And I'd have to put it in a sippy cup anyway because Mr. Picky won't take bottles. As for introducing milk just a tad bit early, that was completely out of the question. Andrew has shown signs of food allergies so the pediatrician has instructed me to introduce milk on his birthday at the earliest. No sooner. I did try significantly increasing my caloric intake to avoid nausea caused by a blood sugar drop, but I didn't notice a difference.

I discussed the problem with my mother, who sucessfully nursed all seven of her babies, including twins. She figured out part of the problem immediately. She asked "But the nausea can't be that bad...at ten months, you're probably only nursing him a few times a day, right?" I sheepishly said "Um, more like 5 or 6 times, and whenever he wakes up at night." Mom said it was time to start dropping feedings. Now. For my sake. There was no way I could make it to 1 year with the way I was feeling. I tried to take it just one day at a time, but those days were rough.

I've always let the baby take the lead with dropping feedings. With Isabelle, I don't remember how we dropped feedings, I just know that eventually, she was only nursing 4 times a day, then 3, and 2 times a day by the time she had her first birthday.

I tried the "don't offer, don't refuse" method of weaning for Andrew and he was totally fine with it. he just became a bigger pig at mealtimes. By the end of that week, I was down to nursing three times a day, morning, noon, & night, with no middle of the night feedings whatsoever. And he went back to sleeping through the night again too.

The result was that my crazy nausea was at least reduced because I was nursing him less. Since dropping those feedings, there have been a few yucky moments where I feed the baby and run to vomit immediately, but those times are few and far between. He's now down to only two nursings a day, and as we approach his first birthday, I'm kind of sad. I've never weaned a baby at one before, but I know it's time. And lately, Andrew's nursing behavior indicates that he's ready to be done too. He's hardly interested in it at all, but that just makes it easier for me.

Oh, these babies...they get too big, too fast.

A New Blog

2012-01-18T10:19:00.000-06:00

I've started a new blog with a completely different audience in mind. If you've read my blog over the past year, you know that our son was diagnosed with a rare lung defect, Congenital Lobar Emphysema, when he was almost six weeks old.

While we can find some very basic information about CLE, there's just not a lot of information about what to expect as your child progresses. What does recovery look like? What does a child look like 6 years after a lobectomy? These are questions that the doctors can give us estimates to, but CLE can vary so much from child to child that it's just hard to know what to expect.

Because newborns are being diagnosed with this every year, I wanted to start a blog to help parents come together and share information to encourage, inform, and support each other.

You may (and probably) have no interest in my new blog whatsoever, but I wanted to let everyone know that I've got a second blog going now too. It has happened that other CLE parents found me through my previous blog posts about it, so if you're out there, hop on over to my Congenital Lobar Emphysema blog.

Today, I kicked off the blog by sharing Andrew's story. Hopefully we'll have more stories to share in the coming weeks.

Honey: The Natural Cough Syrup

2012-01-13T16:12:00.001-06:00

Cold and flu season can be miserable for a mom with young kids, because it seems the kids just get one cold after another. We just finished our third straight week of breathing treatments for little Andrew, with no end in sight.

But nowadays cold and flu season can be downright confusing. All cough syrups have been recalled for children under 2, and most are no longer recommended for children ages 6 and under. Some folks aren't familiar with the new "rules," and I nearly flipped my lid when I visited a doctor's office out of town and the receptionist advised me to go home and give my 10 month old Triaminic or Dimetapp. Check out this article on Dr. Sears' website for more information on the recalls.

So what do you do when your kid has a hacking cough? First, keep in mind that a cough is a good thing! It gets junk up and out. So you really don't want to suppress the cough if you can help it. But when you keep hearing your child's dry, hacking cough over the baby monitor and you know they're not sleeping well, there's got to be something you can do. In desperation one night, I reached for the honey, but I googled it first before giving it to my 2 year old.

As it turns out, research shows that honey works better than cough suppressant syrups! Here's one article that you might find interesting. Of course, you want to make sure your honey isn't old, because then you could give your child botulism. Not cool. It's also not advised for children under the age of 2 (or 1, depending on what you read).

Just give up to 2 teaspoons of honey at bedtime and their coughing should improve quite a bit. Cough syrup companies are starting to catch on, and now they're making honey & lemon juice coughs syrups.

My pediatrician brought this up at Andrew's last appointment. He and I have really gotten to know each other well over the past year. He and his nurse give me the gold star treatment and will do anything for my baby boy. They are sweethearts!

Anyway, we were discussing coughs and colds. He said he doesn't take anything during a cold, he dosen't think children should either. We talked about the only cough syrup that their office recommends for toddlers, which is guaifenesin, the active ingredient in Mucinex and Robitussin. It's supposed to help thin mucus and get the junk out. But he also told me about the research on honey, with a little lemon juice, and how it's just as effective for coughs. I was glad to hear that the results of my googling were supported by our MD!

But the best part about giving honey to Isabelle, at least in her mind? She gets to be just like Winnie the Pooh.

This is part of The Humbled Homemaker's Healthy 2Day Wednesday Link-up.

Isabelle's thoughts on Baby #3

2012-01-12T15:20:00.000-06:00

Isabelle turned 3 in December, and she is very excited about this new little baby. You'd think she'd be fed up with babies by now, and all the attention the little boogers get, but nope, not Izzy.

In fact, it's often Isabelle who gives her little brother lots of attention, declaring "Mommy, look at Andoo's grin! He's so cute!" Or she'll tell me at random times "Andoo's so funny!" She loves it when he makes what she calls "baby noises," like raspberries, and she gets pretty frustrated when he's not in the mood to make them. She says "Andoo, make baby noises! Make baby noises!"

She was 25 months old when Andrew was born, and while she understood a lot of it, she definitely gets it a lot more this pregnancy. Here are some Izzy-isms on the new baby:

After we saw the baby on the sonogram, she was so proud to have a picture of our baby. Damian strolled both Isabelle and Andrew around the big clinic while I finished with the doctor. Isabelle showed the picture of the baby to everyone she passed, saying "Yook, it's o baby!" She doesn't say L's and instead of a dog, a cat, or a baby, she says o dog, o cat, or o baby.

While looking at my belly. Izzy: "Is there o caterpillar in there?" Me: "Nope, it's a baby." Izzy: "How 'bout o giraffe?" Me: "Nope, it's a baby." Izzy: "Maybe o Yion? (Lion). Me: Nope, it's a baby.

She lays on the couch, pulls a blanket up, and puts her stuffed puppy dog on her belly. Izzy: "No, yiddle puppy, you can't climb on me. I don't feel well. I have o baby in my belly." Wonder where she got that from? Hmmm...

The night before we went to the doctor's office for my first checkup and a sonogram. Prayer time, talking to God: Izzy: "We going to doctor's office to see Dr. 'Cales. Dr. 'Cales doesn't have suckers. He doesn't have red ones, or blue ones, or purple ones, or green ones, or yellow ones..."

I'm glad to see my firstborn excited. I'm sure she's thrilled about having another little brother or sister to boss around.

My Top Posts of 2011

2012-01-05T12:19:00.000-06:00

I blog for fun because at heart, I'm still an English teacher, a literature-minded person who loves to read and write. I also blog to keep family in the loop and share fun pictures and stories of the kiddos. But I also enjoy blogging to inform. One of the primary reasons I started this blog was because so many people would ask me questions about cloth diapering. I ended up having to type massively long emails full of links and and "what works for us" stories. Finally, I decided to create a blog. Now all the info. for any of the "strange" things I do is all in one place, complete with links and anecdotes.

I didn't create the blog because I've got this mothering thing figured out. Far from it! In fact, I'm working on putting together a post or two about the one of the things that I'd "figured out" with my firstborn and have had to re-evaluate with my second child. I had to totally revamp my approach to sleep training and my thoughts on doing BabyWise.   What works with one kid doesn't always work with the other!

So hopefully you've figured out that I'm a mom-in-progress with a long way to go. I'm a mom who is clinging to the grace of God to make it through each and every day, and when I get an "aha!" moment, I do like to share it with the world.

With that said, this blog has been fun and I've had more than 26,000 pageviews. For anyone who has a "real" blog (like, with their own domain name, ads, etc.), this isn't a lot of views, but for my little blog with only 30 followers, I'm thrilled to see this many pageviews. Become a follower, by the way! It makes it easier to comment, and if you enjoy reading 2 or more blogs, then you should follow those blogs because it's a real time saver to have them all in one place.

So without any further ado, here are my top posts for 2011, with more readers for these posts than any others, and over 2,000 views for one of the stories.  Crazy, I know.

Oh Baby! A Baby Story: The story of Isabelle's birth. I'm planning on sharing Andrew's birth story soon too.

Broccoli Wokly:  A brief description of my beginnings with Baby-Led Weaning.

Barbie: Random thoughts on if Barbie really does affect self-image. I'm still undecided, but there are so many good toys out there that we haven't bothered to enter the world of Barbie at our house, and I'm not sure if we ever will.

Oh Baby: Nursery Photos: Pictures of Andrew's nursery and the bedding that Damian's aunt and I made.  I could only find the bedding for $300 and up, but we made it for around $100. The boutique look without the boutique price tag. Oh yeah.

7 Tips for Cleaning and Organizing Baby Clothes: Ah, and now it's time to re-organize said baby clothes. Sigh. They grow so fast.

A Thank You Note from a Student: Five Characteristics of Good Moms & Teachers:  A back to school post.

Andrew's Emergency: The entire series had a huge number of readers. In it, I explained the events we went through in March, when Andrew had emergency surgery to remove one lobe of his lung.

Happy Reading!

We're Pregnant (again)!

2012-01-03T15:30:00.001-06:00

"Honey, we're gonna need a minivan!" is how I broke the news to my husband about a month ago, when two pink lines showed up on a stick.

I'd suspected a little bit, but I wasn't completely sure until I saw the lines appear. As soon as I saw them, I burst into uncontrollable laughter. My 2 year old kept asking "Mommy, are you alright?" Her younger brother was 10 months old.

Our due date is August 6, so Isabelle will be 3 1/2 and Andrew will be 18 months when this baby arrives.

Yes, I know what causes that.

Yes, I know I'll have my hands full.

But they'll be full of good things, sweet little blessings.

I don't mind sharing publicly that this baby is quite a surprise. But not a complete surprise, and not one we were unprepared for. We wanted more children, but we thought we wanted a bigger gap between #2 and #3. Evidently God had different plans!

And yes, I know we just might be crazy.

I've gotten a couple of "you're crazy"s already, and those remarks were made by people who love us and are excited for us. My husband and I just had a good laugh about it. We know that our lifestyle choices may look crazy sometimes, but we're fine with that, and since we know a family who welcomed baby #11 last year, we know that we're not that crazy for having a third child, even if #3 is a little soon after #2 and his lung surgery ordeal.

I think what looks crazy is having 3 children, ages 3 and under. But again, I'm OK with that!

When I think about it sometimes, I just get tired. So I don't think about it. At our house, we're taking things one day at a time, making plans for our new little bambino and trying to navigate the woes of pregnancy once again.

So how am I feeling?
That's the perpetual question any time a woman is pregnant. If you read my blog during my last pregnancy or if you've talked to me in depth at any point when I'm pregnant, then you know that pregnancy and I have a love-hate relationship.

Basically, I love the idea of being pregnant. I love babies, so when I'm not pregnant, I pretty much always want to be pregnant. But once I am, I'm completely miserable. Morning sickness never leaves, and I'm generally still losing my lunch (or breakfast or dinner) the week I deliver my babies. Weight gain is a struggle, but it has gotten easier with each pregnancy. I gained 12 pounds with Izzy and 20 with Andrew, and he was also a bigger baby. But my husband still refers to pregnancy as my diet plan.

I'm feeling OK today. Again, we take things one day at a time around here. Yesterday was awful, and so was Sunday afternoon & evening, but my husband was home to ~~help out~~ pretty much do everything. I was really concerned about getting dehydrated, but since I kept food down fine last night, I'm doing OK. I've only gotten sick once today, so that constitutes a good day. I had a week or two of being exhausted and feeling nauseous all the time, but that has subsided and I only have bad days from time to time. Still, my doc gave me a prescription for phenergen gel, and I'm hoping that will bring some relief.

One neat aspect of getting pregnant when you still have an infant is that when I finish getting sick again, I see Andrew's big happy grin and tell him "you were worth every bit of this." I know the next one will be too.

If you want to pray for us, pray for "normal" morning sickness...you know, the kind that goes away around week 14. And pray for a healthy baby, of course, but more than that, pray that our baby and all of our children will know the Lord at an early age, walk with Him, and want to honor Him more than anything else.

We are completely thrilled about a new baby. Time to go shopping for that minivan!

Baby #3 at 9 weeks. We had my first prenatal checkup today, and so far, everything looks great.

Reflecting on 2011

2011-12-31T11:16:00.000-06:00

I was talking with my checkout lady at the grocery store last night about the New Year. We both agreed that 2012 will probably be pretty good, because it sure can't get much worse than 2011.  But then I told her about God's faithfulness this year. It was an incredibly hard year, with health crises for many close members of our family and we nearly lost our son when he was 6 weeks old.

But our God is a God who saves.

And heals.

And carries us when we have no strength.

In 2011, God has shown me how richly blessed I am to go through such tough trials. In response to the story of our son's life-saving lung surgery, I often hear people say how blessed they are to have such healthy children. And then I think of the strength He provided during the two weeks when Damian and I lived at a children's hospital in Dallas. And the way I completely fell apart in the months after we got home. And during that time of brokenness, battling with fear and overwhelming emotions, God gave me peace that is completely indescribable.

He showed me the amazing truth in His word, and I got to live it out on a daily basis, practicing living out my faith. I had to practice taking my thoughts captive and letting God's truth reign in my heart instead of the fear that wanted to consume me. If others are blessed to have perfectly healthy children, I think I can say that I am blessed that my son nearly died.

When I got home from the grocery store last night, my husband had added a Rich Mullins cd to my ipod, so the kids and I listened to it while I did some cleaning. I just about fell apart when I heard one of my favorite old songs.

Sometimes I think of Abraham
How one star he saw had been lit for me
He was a stranger in this land
And I am that, no less than he
And on this road to righteousness
Sometimes the climb can be so steep
I may falter in my steps
But never beyond Your reach

Oh God, you are my God.
And I will ever praise you.
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

I picked up my baby boy and held him tightly as I sang these words to the Lord.

This has been a hard year of climbing steep mountains. I've had years of walking with God, soaking in His word and developing a right view of Him. And this year, more than any other, I got to exercise that faith. The result? Our marriage is stronger than ever before, my walk with God is deeper, I trust in His word more than ever before, and I think our kids are seeing our faith lived out too.

Please make no mistake. This isn't a "Way to go, Gabby" moment. It's a "Way to go, God" moment. God has provided everything we needed to get through a difficult year.

Even in recent weeks, dear friends have had incredibly difficult circumstances that leave me asking why as I hit the floor in prayer for their pain. Sometimes I look around and all I see is hurting people. Marriages are falling apart and mommies are left with empty wombs and arms. One thought I have when I reflect back on this year is "Come, Lord Jesus." I'm ready for a world in which He completely reigns. I'm ready for the end of the story, when there are no more tears and every knee will bow to the Lord.

In the meantime, I will follow Him all of my days, praising Him for the trials.

I really don't mean to sound so sad today, because really I have so much joy as I reflect back on this tough year. I haven't made any resolutions yet for 2012, although I'll spend some time tonight setting goals for the year. I'm looking forward to walking with Him and seeing what He has for us. I know there will be tough moments, but those tough times are often some of the sweetest. I already know that with my children, there will be many times of stretching and growth for me as I learn more about what it is to be a mommy, and I pray that like this year, I will be growing in Christlikeness in 2012.

What are your resolutions or goals for 2012? One of mine is memorizing scripture faithfully. I'd love to hear about your plans for the year. Happy New Year!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Izzy!

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to my precious little girl, Isabelle Rose!

3rd Birthday

2nd Birthday

1st Birthday

Birth Day

Three years ago today, I stayed up all night long at the mere thought that I was your mommy. Now I still believe that there's no greater privilege in the world than being a mommy to you and your brother. Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Saving my Sanity this Christmas

2011-12-15T16:03:00.000-06:00

"I'm not in a high heels stage of life right now," I commented to a friend last night, immediately after complimenting her adorable heels. I've been there before, and I'm sure I will be again, but right now, cute flats, an occasional pair of boots, and my favorite lime green Pumas will have to do. I'm in the having babies, nursing babies, and chasing babies stage of life.

In the middle of trying to raise godly children, comfort, rest, and sanity are some of my priorities. Similar to selecting shoes, we moms are often forced to make choices between what we'd love to do and what is currently best for ourselves and our families.

This time of year, choosing between good and best is even more important. I thought I'd take you through some of the not-so-fun choices that I've had to make lately in order to keep my sanity this Christmas. But I'll warn you: Most of my choices involve saying no somewhere, and possibly incurring some form of mommy guilt, friend guilt, or Christian woman guilt.

Saying no to some Christmas parties. I really want to make it to everything. I love being in the middle of everything, getting to know people better, and just hanging out in general. That's my personality. But it can't always happen.

The risk: Missing out on connecting with families we'd like to get to know better.
The win: Family bonding time, including one evening spent driving around looking at Christmas lights.

Skipping our annual Photo Christmas Card tradition: We had a hard time coordinating schedules with our photographer, so we found a family friend to do it. Then it rained the day we'd planned to do it. Once that happened, I realized I would have very little time to put everything together and get them mailed out.

The risk: Skipping a favorite tradition and not getting to show off our family, which has grown since last year.
The win: Sanity for mommy, and lots of money saved.

Opting out of the Christmas Cookie Exchange at Bible study: This was actually today. I had a few options. I could've stayed up super late last night baking cookies, which is probably what I would've done any other year. But right now, rest and sleep are really important to me, so I didn't even consider this option. The other choice was to do it yesterday afternoon. But yesterday, I really needed to get groceries, crafts, and activities for my 2nd grade AWANA class that I teach on Wednesday nights. Teaching 2nd graders is much more important than a cookie exchange.

The risk: Admitting to the ladies at Bible study that I just don't have it together this year and I cannot possibly bake 6 dozen cookies.
The win: Admitting to the ladies that I just don't have it together. =) Always be real with other women. They're not perfect and they don't expect you to be perfect either. Other wins: Rest & sanity.

Choosing pre-baked when needed: Two years ago, we made a gingerbread house from scratch, which was tons of fun. Last year, I was 8 weeks away from having a baby, so I was huge and exhausted, so we skipped making a gingerbread house altogether. This year, I opted for the Walmart special, a box of pre-made, pre-cut gingerbread forms, candy, and icing.

The risk: Letting go of my perfectionism and desire to do things the best way.
The win: We get to have keep a fun tradition going without sacrificing time and rest for the mommy.

Not completely decorating for Christmas: We've got tons of Christmas stuff strewn everywhere in the house, but I chose to leave a good portion of it in the attic. No Christmas towels this year, no Christmas coffee mugs, and I didn't decorate the top of the china cabinet. No snowbabies and I kept my bigger nativity stored away too. Sigh. It was hard to leave it all up there, but I did it.

The risk: Not having things perfect.
The win: Not as much to clean up and not as many pretty things to worry about keeping away from the baby.

Signing up to bring store-bought items to parties: I hate doing this. I love to cook and I love to bake, so baking for a party is lots of fun to me. And what homemaker doesn't enjoy having a few people ask for her recipe for the yummy toffee bars? But life is busy, so when I see that something like drinks or dinner rolls need to be brought to a party, I'm the first to sign up for it.

The risk: No one's going to compliment my storebought food.
The win: Time with my kids & rest for me.

Notice a recurring theme here? While it's important to cook and bake for our family and kids, as well as others, there are seasons of life where it just can't be a priority. When I'm well-rested and not running around like crazy, my kids and family are happier. I know that we'll remember the things we do together, the stories we read, and the songs we sing.

What things haven't we skipped out on? The "important" Christmas parties, homemade Christmas gifts for the ladies at my MOPS table, teaching Isabelle Christmas carols, family advent devotionals, advent calendars, and having matching wrapping paper (k, so I haven't completely won the battle against perfectionism yet!).

It's a fun time of year, one of my favorites in fact, so I want it to be a favorite time of year for my kids too. We have lots of conversations about Christmas and what it's really about. Isabelle's birthday is 4 days before Christmas, so she thinks it's neat that Jesus' birthday is right after hers. She can't wait to have a birthday cake for Jesus. For her first Christmas carol, I taught her "Away in a Manger," and it's adorable to hear her sing about "the little Lord Jesus." While we've skipped the extras, it's really important to us that we focus on Christ at Christmas.

What traditions or extras have you had to skip out on? Are you able to do all that you want this year?

Andrew and food allergies?

2011-12-08T15:29:00.001-06:00

This is what Andrew's face looks like when he eats yogurt.

Even with little hives on his face, he's still pretty stinkin' adorable, isn't he?

I introduced yogurt to him a couple months ago. The first couple of times, he was fine with it, but the third or fourth time, he vomited it all up. Not exactly what you want to discover at 2 am!

Our pediatrician advised trying again. Andrew got this same type of rash the first time he ate bananas and he vomited that up as well. We tried bananas again recently, and after being hesitant to eat them the first few tries, he eventually ate a lot of it and had no reaction whatsoever. Yay!

But yogurt? This is his charming red yogurt face. Just to eliminate all variables, because I'm nerdy and analytical that way, I tried an experiment. He broke out like this after eating organic blueberry baby yogurt (YoBaby). So a few days later, we tried plain organic Greek yogurt. The same thing happened! A few days later, I tried pureed blueberries. Nothing! No reaction whatsoever. So his reaction is definitely a result of something in the yogurt, not the blueberries.
The little rash on his face goes away within about 30 minutes, and it only appears anywhere the yogurt contacted. If I'm careful with how I feed him, he ends up with very little rash and the yogurt doesn't seem to bother him in any other way either. His skin responds this way to a number of things he comes in contact with, including laundry that hasn't been washed in free & clear detergent, but again, it fades in about 30 minutes or less.

Isabelle's face actually responded similarly when she had cinnamon as a baby and even a crisco-based icing that she ate when she was 12 months old. Even six months ago, eating hummus with preservatives caused her to get a temporary rash on her face, which is why we always opt for a preservative-free hummus (like Tribe). Hummus is her favorite food, so this is a big deal at our house.

So what's the scoop? Is this an allergy, an intolerance, or simply sensitive skin? Or is this a question for my pediatrician. In the meantime, no yogurt for my little guy.

Giving Thanks

2011-12-02T15:55:00.001-06:00

So I totally botched my month of Thankfulness!! I'll happily admit that now so that I can move on with other posts.

Essentially, throughout the month, I have been so completely thankful for the life of our son. There's nothing like nearly losing a child to make you appreciate everything about children. Even being woken up at 2 in the morning (and 4, and 6) when he's teething.

I'm thankful for our incredible family who supported us during the toughest trial that we've experienced so far.

And I'm thankful for a body of believers who loves us enough to care for us, meet our needs, and pray for us. Our friends here are amazing.

Above all, I'm so thankful for salvation. I cannot wait to introduce my children to the God who Saves, the God who is alive and real.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm still not ready to switch gears and prepare for Christmas! Life is hectic but sweet.

Caution: Mom in Progress

2011-11-10T15:03:00.000-06:00

I sure hope you know that I'm very much a work in progress. I don't have it together, I make mistakes, and half the time, I feel like I'm just barely keeping my head above water when it comes to parenting and keeping up with the housework.

You definitely wouldn't have mistaken me for the perfect mom if you saw my two year old on stage at church last Sunday. She was the one who wanted to run and play during her brother's baby dedication. She didn't want to hold my hand, and when my husband grabbed her hand as well, she picked her feet up off the ground and said "weeee!" I think she talked during the entire prayer. Obedience was not happening, and she did this in front of the entire church. Nice one, Izzy.

But just in case you ever do have the audacity to think that I've got it together even half the time, let me introduce you to Mt. Washmore.

It has a cousin hanging around here too.

And another relative in the dryer.

This is about five loads of laundry. I have no idea how I managed to get this far behind. And these aren't the only areas I've neglected.

I'd much rather cuddle up with a good book, take a nap, waste time on Facebook, or write a clever blog post about the gourmet meal I didn't cook last night, but if I want a place to go to bed tonight, I'd better get started.

I wouldn't want the bosses to cut my pay.

Give Thanks - Week 1

2011-11-07T14:37:00.000-06:00

Every day this month, I've tried to reflect on the things for which I am thankful, especially given the events of that particular day. Instead of sharing it on Facebook, I wanted to blog it since I'm a pretty wordy girl.

Tuesday, November 1: People often say that in times of crisis, you find out who your friends are. If that's true, then we keep finding out over and over again how blessed we are to have amazing friends and family. I'm thankful for our church family who were willing to step in and help when we brought Andrew to the ER on Monday.

Wednesday, November 2: I'm thankful for a husband who loves me enough to not only appreciate the things I do for our family, but to actually express it. This time, it was in the form of one dozen pink roses to say "Thank you for caring for me and the kids when we were sick this weekend." I love that man.

Thursday, November 3: I'm grateful for a pediatrician and surgeon who worked hard to get to the bottom of Andrew's health issues and funny x-rays. They went above and beyond to provide good care for us. And I'm grateful for the gold star treatment the pediatrician's nurse gives us to try to prevent my sick son from being further exposed to more germs in the waiting room.

Friday, November 4: I'm thankful for a friend for telling me "This devotional is amazing! You must read it." And then she gave a copy of it to me. I'm not good at reading it every day, but each time I do, God's word strengthens and encourages me to make changes in my life to better honor Him. God uses this little devotional book to remind me to cast my cares on Him, knowing that He cares for me, and to trust Him every hour of the day.

Saturday, November 5: I appreciate my sweet family and their desire to let me sleep in today!

Sunday, November 6, on the occasion of Andrew's baby dedication: I'm thankful that the Lord chose to spare my son's life, and that we will be able to use that to lead Andrew to know his Savior one day. And I'm thankful for a body of believers who are like family to us and support us in our desire to grow our children to know Christ.

Monday, November 7: I'm thankful for moms. Specifically, I love how they come to visit, cook lots of food, and leave awesome leftovers in their wake. Fajitas anyone?

For what things are you thankful today?

Sick Days

2011-10-29T15:50:00.002-05:00

One day, in about 16 years, Isabelle will be leaving for college and Andrew will cringe when I call him my baby boy. And I will give anything just to be woken up at 3 am by a sick baby in fuzzy footie pajamas.

So I'm going to snuggle and rock him now, even if his sniffles keep both of us up all night long.

And I'll let the dishes sit in the sink again, because I'm busy reading stories to my toddler who's fussy with an ear infection.

And I'll try to serve their daddy soup with a smile as he fights his high fever.

And then after the kids are in bed, I'll make a 9 pm run to Starbucks for a sip of sanity in a paper cup.

Dodging the Flu Bullet: Why the Daigles are getting flu shots

2011-10-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is one of those posts where I feel sure I'll alienate at least a third of you, but both my husband and I agreed that this is something I must blog about. So at the risk of doing just that, I'd love to tell you why my family will be getting flu shots this year, and why we will continue doing so as long as there's a baby in the house.

Flu Season, 2010
About a year ago, I went in for my monthly prenatal checkup.  My OB's nurse, who I happen to love, by the way, partly because she totally salvaged my ability to nurse my firstborn child, asked if I would be getting a flu shot. Ever the cautious and skeptical pregnant lady, I told her that I'd like to check with my doctor and see what he thinks. She said "Oh I can tell you right now what he thinks. He would want you to get the shot." Since we love and completely trust my OB (he's a family friend), I dutifully got my flu shot.

My husband got his flu shot at work. My daughter, however, was another story. She came down with her first round of croup in October of last year (she's had it three times since then). When I took her in for a follow-up appointment, her pediatrician said we should wait another week or two before getting a flu shot for her. Unfortunately, that sweet pediatrician passed away a week after Izzy's croup episode. We didn't want to switch offices, so we waited for his replacement to arrive, but to this day, the practice is not up and running again. Needless to say, my two year old never got a flu shot.

February 2011
Fast forward four months.  Andrew was born in early February, and as always, my family drove up to meet the new baby. My mom and sister planned on staying for a while to help out with Izzy and the new little one while I recovered from my c-section.

Andrew was born on a Friday, and everyone met him, held him, and relished the sweet little bundle of joy, the first grandson in both of our families. Saturday, my step-dad planned on driving back home to Lake Charles, so he stopped by the hospital. I offered Andrew to him, but Jerry declined, saying that he had a little cough and didn't want to give Andrew his cold, if that's what it was. A nurse brought the baby to the nursery because my younger brother, JJ, was also feeling poorly. JJ wanted to meet Andrew, so he just looked through the nursery window.

Jerry & JJ drove home Saturday night. On Sunday, the same day that Andrew and I were discharged from the hospital, Jerry woke up in Lake Charles feeling miserably. A visit to a doctor showed that he had the flu. Back in Texarkana, we all breathed a sigh of relief that Jerry didn't hold the baby on Saturday, although he did on Friday.

But then my sister said she had a bit of a runny nose or something going on. She often has allergies, so this was no surprise. Still, she's our resident germophobe, so she insisted on going to an ugent care clinic "just in case." She tested positive for the flu. That night, she and my other brother, Rylan, stayed at a hotel to keep the germs away from us, and we Lysolled everything in the house.

My husband, mom, and I were the only ones left at the house, and we were getting pretty anxious. It felt like the flu was closing in on us.

Monday morning, we had Andrew's 4 day well baby visit with the pediatrician. When we woke up, we discovered that Isabelle had a fever of 102.

We decided we would try to get her in to see the pediatrician too, so that we could confirm a flu diagnosis. I basically barricaded Andrew and I in the back of the house while my mom and Damian got Izzy dressed and ready. Isabelle felt terribly, and was crying and upset. She wanted her mommy more than anything, but I had another baby who needed me as well, and he needed me to be germ-free. My mama-heart ached to meet the needs of the child I'd been caring for over the past two years, but my newborn had needs that only I could meet (I was nursing), and he had to be my priority.

We put Izzy's car seat in my mom's car, to keep her from breathing on her baby brother, and mom followed us to the pediatrician. The large clinic did not want to permit Isabelle to see the pediatrician on such short notice, so we got a friend to pull some strings while I begged and even cried to the employee to break their precious protocol and let my daughter see a doctor.  She eventually agreed.

I sat in the well-baby area with Andrew while my mom and Damian sat in a separate room with Izzy. The doctor confirmed that she had the flu, so we went home. We shipped Izzy, my mom, and the flu off to Lake Charles as soon as humanly possible. Izzy stayed in my mom's car while I madly packed her bags and Damian filled her prescriptions. It hurt that I couldn't hug and kiss my daughter goodbye, and my mom couldn't hold or kiss Andrew, for fear of spreading germs.

Alone in our sick house, my husband and I disinfected everything we could. We looked at each other and wondered which of us would be next.  Influenza had creeped closer and closer to our baby, until only the three of us were left.

Isabelle meeting Andrew for the first time. Had things not been completely crazy, I'm sure one of us would've recognized then that she was already sick. She was horribly cranky and had flushed cheeks.

Our pediatrician had advised taking Tamiflu prophylactically, that is, as a preventative measure against the flu. One doctor friend of ours gave us samples of Tamiflu to help us do just that, so we decided Damian would take it and I called my OB to get a prescription and find out if it is safe for nursing mothers. My doc called me back after 9:00 pm (told you he's pretty awesome!).  He had spoken with a NICU doctor to find out if this was advisable, because everything he'd read said that there's no evidence to support taking Tamiflu prophylactically (although the makers of Tamiflu certainly advise it! I wonder why? $$$). The NICU doctor agreed that taking Tamiflu wouldn't keep me from getting the flu. But what was really nice was my doctor's complete assurance. He said "the baby's going to be fine. You're not going to get the flu because you had a flu shot. Gabby, your baby will be fine."
The next night, friends brought us dinner. The woman who cooked for us was also reassuring, but for a different reason. She knew that I breastfeed my babies, and as a nursing instructor, she had been teaching recently on the benefits of colostrum, the substance that comes in prior to mom's full milk. She said that among other benefits, colostrum also protects against respiratory illness. How incredible is that?

Afterwards, I remember other friends giving us great reasons why Andrew did not catch the flu. My husband finally just said "I don't know which of these things God used to protect the baby, but I just know that He did it." I completely agree.

That said, we became firm believers in flu shots after that experience. Mom and Rylan never did get the flu because they had already had the flu once that season. Otherwise, the only people who didn't get the flu were me, Damian, and Andrew.

Can you imagine what would've happened if Andrew had gotten the flu? At the time, I was so upset about the possibility because I knew a baby less than a week old with the flu would definitely end up in the hospital.  None of us had any idea yet that Andrew had a rare lung defect.  He would've ended up being flown out of town for emergency, life-saving surgery, which is what really did happen. But instead of having a lobectomy (lung removal) in his fifth week of life, he would've had it in his first week of life. There's no telling what sort of result we would've had with that situation.  God is good!

Both my husband and my mom have joked that next time we have a baby, we're not going to let anyone hold him if they haven't had a flu shot. But I think they were only halfway joking. Everyone at my mom's house has already gotten their flu shots this year, and my kids have appointments next week to get them as well. I can't remember if their flu type was A or B, but it was consistent, and evidently it was the strain we'd been vaccinated against.

I can't help but think that perhaps the reason that OBs and pediatricians are so pushy with flu shots is because by and large, flu shots work. Do I still have concerns about some of the ingredients and processes involved in making them? You bet.

So do what you will in your family. I know that every family has to make the decisions they feel are best for them. I've done a decent amount of research regarding immunizations in general, enough to make me a bit concerned. But after looking at the information, my husband and I decided that for our family, immunizations would be best. I know that others have done their homework as well, and for different reasons, you may choose not to immunize at all or sit out the flu shot. I totally respect thar. But for anyone who is on the fence on this issue, I thought you might be interested in hearing our story.

I've always had reservations about getting flu shots, but not anymore.  You can bet that as long as there's a baby in our house, we'll be the first in line.

Or let them eat (store bought) bread: Prioritizing our kids over homemaking.

2011-10-20T16:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I shared some of my latest breadmaking endeavors with you, with the intention of completely contradicting myself today.

I love homemaking. Really, I do. I enjoy making bread, cookies, and salsa from scratch. And when I have time, I enjoy sewing, even if I do have a love/hate relationship with my sewing machine. I don't exactly love cleaning, but I love a clean house, and God has given me much joy in cleaning in recent years.

That said, I think it's so important to keep everything in perspective. I read an article recently and the author said he knew a woman who passed away in her 30s. The dying woman said she wished she'd made less bread and spent more time with her kids.

When it comes to homemaking and breadmaking, we should strive for balance, and frequent heart checks are important, at least for me. In our world of blogging and Facebook, we see much more of what goes on in peoples' lives, and sometimes this feeds our need to impress others or it fosters feelings of inadequacy.

I love reading homemaking blogs. They spur me on in my longing to do my job with excellence. But sometimes I read them and think I just can't measure up. No way, no how.

But when my heart is kept in check, I realize that I want to make homemade croutons, bread, and kefir because I enjoy them, they nourish my family, and because homemaking brings honor to God. Not so that I can impress someone.

When I read homemaking blogs or posts on Facebook, I try to take the ideas I can use and ignore the ones that I don't have time for. And I rejoice with others in the neat things that they're able to accomplish, even if I never will. Will I grind my own grain? No indeed. But I might try out a yummy new recipe. I don't want these things to become idols, and they should never come before loving my children, my husband, and those around me. If anything, they are an extension of that love.

A friend recently emailed this poem to me. Her kids have graduated from high school (homeschool) and are now in college or have careers, so I know that she can tell me firsthand how important it is to cherish the little years.

“Now is the time to get things done…wade in the water, sit in the sun, squish my toes in the mud by the door, explore the world of a girl just four.

Now is the time to study books, flowers, snails, how a cloud looks; to ponder “up,” where God sleeps nights, why mosquitoes take such big bites.

Later there’ll be time to sew and clean, paint the hall that soft new green, to make new drapes, refinish the floor – Later on…when she’s not just four.”

-Irene Foster

Have I read a book to my child today? Collapsed into giggles in the bed? Danced the hokey pokey in the living room? Sat on the front porch and played "I Spy?" Rolled a ball across the kitchen floor? Built a lego tower just to knock it down? Had a tea party with Pooh and Eeyore?

These things are much more important than homemade dinner rolls.

Time to go! My favorite two year old woke up from her nap and it's time to play. If I don't enter into her world now, at 2, will she let me into hers at 16?

Let them eat bread!

2011-10-19T16:00:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in yesterday's family update, I've really gotten into breadmaking lately. I've written about breadmaking before, but that was before my second pregnancy and baby.

Back then, I didn't buy any bread. As in any. We ate our sandwiches on homemade loaves of bread, which my husband absolutely loved.  I used my KitchenAid mixer to do much of the work for me, but it still required a good bit of time and effort.

Eventually, I found a bread machine at an estate sale for $10, which reduced the time even further. But not too long into my pregnancy, I had to forgo the breadmaking in favor of naps and rest due to neverending morning sickness.

I've recently dusted off the bread machine once again. But this time, instead of fighting to keep up with our daily bread needs, I've opted to continue buying sandwich bread.  I prefer to spend my breadmaking time on french bread, dinner rolls, and other bread items because it's a much better use of my time.

To clarify, I've never actually baked my bread in the machine. These days, most people who use bread machines use them to do the mixing and kneading.  With this method, bread making becomes a pretty simple process. Just dump the ingredients, put the machine on the dough setting, and two hours later, you'll have perfect bread dough. This is really helpful in the winter because my house gets so cold that it takes a lot longer for the bread to rise, but in the machine, the temperature and other factors are all controlled for, so it's no longer a problem.

Perfect Dinner Rolls
I've been on a quest to find super yummy dinner rolls, and I think I finally found a recipe that I love. Click here for the recipe for Buttery Bread Machine Rolls. The other recipes I've tried were good, but not fabulous. We really enjoyed these. That said, if you've got a killer recipe for dinner rolls in the bread machine, share it in the comments section. I'm always up for trying something different.

Chocolate for breakfast? Yes please!
My other latest recipe find is for Chocolate Butterhorns, or as Isabelle calls them, "chocolate bread." I had no idea what a butterhorn was before I tried this recipe, but what's not to love about homemade bread stuffed with chocolate morsels?

In case you're like me, and you tend to jump ahead without fully reading the instructions, please know that these take five hours to rise. Plan accordingly! The first time I made these, the dough was ready for me to work with it at 10:00 pm. When I saw that it needed such a long amount of time to rise, I stuck the dough in the fridge and went to bed, with the plan of making the butterhorns in the morning. When I pulled the dough out, the texture wasn't right, so I had to add more flour, mix, etc. That batch ended up being just OK because again, homemade bread stuffed with chocolate is always going to taste good. But when I tried the recipe out again, and actually had time to work with the bread dough immediately, the results were soft, flaky, and delicious.

The latest breadmaking excitement around here has been a sourdough starter that someone is giving me today. I've never been so excited about making bread! I must admit that I'm a bit intimidated by the thought of using a starter. According to my sister, it's like having a pet: You have to feed it, let it breathe, take it for walks. Well, maybe not the last one.

I'm curious to see if I'll make bread more frequently or if it becomes more of a hassle with a starter. I'll let you know how it goes!

This post is part of the Homemaking Link-Up at Raising Homemakers.

Odds & Ends around the Daigle Home

2011-10-18T16:06:00.002-05:00

I used to do monthly updates, and I'm sure that'll happen again one day. In the meantime, you'll have to settle for sporadic posts such as this one.

Andrew
Baby boy is 8 1/2 months now and doing wonderfully. He's very healthy and has outgrown much of his fussiness. Instead, he gives us these gigantic smiles all the time, so much that when my sister saw a recent picture of him on Facebook, she didn't recognize him. I doubt she's ever seen a picture of him without an enormous grin.

Izzy and Andrew before MOPS one morning. Neither kid would smile, so this is the best we could do! Photo courtesy of Alamond Photography.

Andrew eats ridiculously well. Following the Baby-Led Weaning format of introducing solids has worked out beautifully for our family. He's also starting to sleep better. I started doing CIO (Cry it out) with him again last week, and the result has been a well-rested mommy.

Izzy
Izzy will be 3 in December, and she is fun as ever. She has new sentences every day, and we never know what she's going to come up with next. Last week, as I finished cleaning up water she'd splashed in the bathroom, she said "Good job, Mommy. Aw, Mommy, you're such a good girl."

She's also busy as ever. Lately, she has been in need of lots of prompt correction, which can be tiring, but it's totally worth it to have a child who obeys the first time. Not that we're there yet! We're definitely not, but that's the goal, and it's nice to see improvement. I'm afraid she's on the verge of outgrowing her naptime, and this is what she did one afternoon instead of napping.

Surely I'm not the only mom whose Bible looks something like this?

Isabelle sprained her ankle a couple weeks ago, and that was quite a fiasco, but as of yesterday, she's finally walking without limping.

Gabby, personally
Lately, I'm really into breadmaking, so I'll write a post on that pretty soon. I also have a few sewing projects planned.

I'm doing pretty well, but I'm still a bit weepy at times. Sometimes I wonder if people are thinking "get over it already!" But I'm really not teary-eyed about sadness or grief (read the series of posts regarding Andrew's emergency lung surgery from 6 months ago if you're not sure what I'm referring to). For the most part, I get emotional when I reflect on the amazing things the Lord has done through the trial and its aftermath. He provided in so many ways, above and beyond anything we could've imagined. Even now, it astounds me to read other people's stories about their children with the same lung defect as Andrew. Typically, there are lingering effects, sometimes as small as taking medication daily for respiratory issues. For Andrew, there are none. He has not one single illness or problem related to CLE.
God is so good, but had He not chosen to preserve my son's life, with very little time to spare, God would still be good. He has already done it all on the cross.

As a Family
We've been much busier than we'd like to be. I enjoy all the things we do, but it can be hard to keep up with all the weekly commitments we have and still have time for fun and rest as a family. I've enjoyed my second grade AWANA class that I teach. MOPS is going well and so is our ladies' Bible study. Isabelle's favorite part of all these things is getting to see her friends and play with them.

We've enjoyed having friends and family visit recently, and both Izzy and Andrew had a blast with their cousins last weekend.

Damian and I are looking forward to a much-needed date night without the kids this week. A couple of awesome young ladies from our church's youth group ordered us to take a date night, and they're babysitting for free. How sweet is that?

Hope you and your family are doing well!

More on Baby-Led Weaning

2011-09-28T14:14:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I briefly explained the premise of Baby-Led Weaning and how it's working out wonderfully for our family. Here are a few more details on BLW. When I get time, I'll try to upload a video of Andrew chewing up his food with only his gums. It's pretty amazing.

Andrew's lunch one day last week: He's got fish (talapia) in one hand and a rice cake (sliced) in the other. Andrew is nearly 8 months old.

Negatives of BLW:

Mess, mess, and more mess: As long as you're fine with this, there's no problem. Being a bit of a neatnik, I have a hard time with this, but I'm getting over it. I just deal with the fact that I might have to change him after each meal. Many times I don't, but it's always a possibility. A friend gave us an awesome bib that's really more of a smock. It wipes clean and has long sleeves (and comes from England. How cool is that?). We will definitely be getting lots of use out of this!
Concerns about choking: The book, Baby-Led Weaning, explains how this doesn't need to be much of a concern. Now a baby might gag, but as the authors explain, a younger baby's gag reflex is closer to the front of his mouth, and it moves further back over time. So when a baby gags on something, it's pretty close to the front of his mouth, and as long as he's in an upright position, he'll spit the food out with no problem. This has been our experience with Andrew, and I'm no more concerned about him choking than I was with Isabelle.
No way to gauge what baby eats: Again, if you're fine with this, then it's not really a problem. With BLW, you never know how much food the baby has eaten until you take him out of the high chair and see what food has fallen down in the seat. I don't mind not knowing how much Andrew is eating because this is the attitude we've developed with Isabelle, our 2 year old. We present her with a healthy meal. If she eats it, great. If she doesn't eat much, that's fine too. She'll eat up at her next meal. Isabelle has become a better eater since we've taken this approach, which was our pediatrician's suggestion. I like that we're starting out this way with Andrew. It's always easier to start as you mean to go, rather than changing up the rules later on.

Positives of BLW:

Easy Peasy: I love that I can just put food on his tray and enjoy my meal. There's no stress or frustration involved in feeding the baby.
Developing a positive attitude towards food: Food is just fun for him, so he has a blast experiencing different foods. There's nothing he won't try!
Baby learns to regulate his own intake of food: He is responsible for knowing when he's full, and I trust him on that one. It's the same way it works with breastfeeding, so there's no need to interfere with what he's been responsible for since birth. Just like I don't force him to nurse for one more minute, I never make him take one more bite.
No food to buy: We don't buy babyfood, but then again, we never have. I still bake sweet potatoes for him or slice up fresh peaches, but there's very little prep work involved in this method.