tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30656612211142243022012-02-01T01:25:24.298-06:00I'm a Mama Bird. That Muses. And Babbles. :-)Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.comBlogger222125aMamaBirdhttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-31123468815513642932011-10-14T19:11:00.000-05:002011-10-14T19:11:59.936-05:002011-10-14T19:11:59.936-05:00

I have two younger brothers whom I love very much. They're the bestest brothers in the whole wide world. My youngest brother's name is Trevor, and one of the things I love most about him is that he's a complete weirdo. Here's proof.... var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com2http://www.amamabird.com/2011/10/trev-stomps-around-world-part-1.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-87653187632846222362011-10-09T16:25:00.002-05:002011-10-10T13:13:13.992-05:002011-10-10T13:13:13.992-05:00

The Objective: Achieve 101 predetermined goals in a period of 1001 days. Many of these goals are meant to build better habits; most are meant to motivate me to be a better mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and Christ-follower. :) The Reason Behind the Insanity: First of all, having a list of goals and/or tasks is my "thing". I love lists! Secondly, I need accountability. Having this list on

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com1http://www.amamabird.com/2011/10/101-goals-in-1001-days.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-45681076495098744822011-10-04T17:05:00.000-05:002011-10-04T17:05:15.275-05:002011-10-04T17:05:15.275-05:00

Where has the time gone?!! It seems like I was JUST working on compiling this list of goals, and now it's over 900 days later and my time is up! What?!?! I made decent progress. I completed 232 of the 291 individual tasks, and overall, I was able to cross out 68 of the 90 goals. Not too bad, but I'm hoping to do better next time. I'm working on my goals for Round 2 and I'll post those in the

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com2http://www.amamabird.com/2011/10/90-goals-in-900-days-finishline.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-43786559957602997482011-08-11T01:56:00.000-05:002011-08-11T01:56:27.723-05:002011-08-11T01:56:27.723-05:00

Can you call yourself a blogger when you haven't blogged in, say, 3 months? Yeah, I didn't think so... Well, just for grins and giggles, I'm going to pretend I'm still a blogger...just for today. Is that okay? Good... The last time I stopped by here, I gave an update on my husband, who was three weeks out from a skin graft surgery to repair some third degree burns he sustained. So much has

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com2http://www.amamabird.com/2011/08/in-which-i-pretend-to-be-blogger-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-12735939137736580602011-05-06T14:16:00.002-05:002011-05-15T23:23:43.154-05:002011-05-15T23:23:43.154-05:00

Sorry things went dark around this here blog. Things have been slightly CA-RAZY. We had water in our basement, which required some work on our septic system. That was followed by an emptying of our basement which entailed re-organizing, giving away, throwing away, cleaning, and (eventually) selling all the CRAP we had down there. It also involved cleaning and disinfecting the floors since the

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com7http://www.amamabird.com/2011/05/another-chris-update-3-weeks-post.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-66055392137668687332011-04-19T22:34:00.001-05:002011-04-19T22:49:34.379-05:002011-04-19T22:49:34.379-05:00

Chris had a follow-up appointment in Iowa City yesterday. They removed the staples (between 3-4 dozen), which was a pleasant experience as you can imagine. :)  They also examined the grafts and said that everything looks "just as it should". It looks worse, but it's actually better. Does that make sense?  Pictures are at the way bottom of this post, as usual. The dressings are different from

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com2http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/how-about-another-update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-8171819240405159692011-04-19T20:55:00.000-05:002011-04-19T20:55:48.206-05:002011-04-19T20:55:48.206-05:00

The {week five} winner* of One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp is.... ...the 3rd person to comment on my giveaway post. That would be SquireChoir, my In-Real-Life friend Heidi ! I already know where you live, so I'll get it sent to you straight away. I hope you love it! And now for the winner* of the gift set - One Thousand Gifts plus the corresponding Day Brightener. What I did was I

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com1http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/giveaway-winner_19.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-49405039499328046952011-04-18T00:13:00.000-05:002011-04-18T00:13:37.928-05:002011-04-18T00:13:37.928-05:00

Since we got home on Friday, things have been Cuh-RAZY. Chris's pain has decreased significantly in his left leg, both at the donor site and the graft site. In fact, the donor site has little white dots all over where skin is healing! Very cool. His right leg, however, has remained the same pain-wise and possibly gotten worse. We're not sure if it's because the burns went down the front of his

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com1http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/super-quick-update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-58925089032977285302011-04-15T22:15:00.000-05:002011-04-15T22:15:12.318-05:002011-04-15T22:15:12.318-05:00

Today was a rough day for Chris. This morning he went and got cleaned off in the "bath room". He laid on a big metal table/cart/bed thing and a couple hoses came down that were used to clean Chris off. They started by undressing the graft site, and ohmygoodness. It looks way worse, even though it actually is way better. (There are pictures, at the way bottom of the post. They're graphic, so

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com6http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/were-homeand-another-update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-84676662012318337382011-04-14T12:37:00.001-05:002011-04-14T18:58:05.322-05:002011-04-14T18:58:05.322-05:00

Really quick update... Chris recovered from surgery fairly well. They said he did vomit when they removed his breathing tube, and we were surprised to hear they needed to use a breathing tube. I'm not sure if that had something to do with the fact that Chris snores and stops breathing in his sleep (for about 5-10 seconds), but we're hoping to find out what the dealio is with that. Morphine

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com3http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/aaandanother-update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-25129943573077044212011-04-13T15:32:00.001-05:002011-04-13T15:35:44.630-05:002011-04-13T15:35:44.630-05:00

Chris went in for surgery around 12:35 p.m. (the previous surgery went long...praying for whomever that patient is). They told me it would be 3-1/2 hours, then an hour in recovery. So I went to the cafeteria and forced some food into my gullet since I hadn't eaten anything yet today, and then I went to the waiting room and settled in. A little before 2:00 the receptionist came and got me and

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com0http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/post-surgery-update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-62491391313961494842011-04-12T23:09:00.000-05:002011-04-12T23:09:47.448-05:002011-04-12T23:09:47.448-05:00

I had totally planned to update earlier today but the day completely got away from me. We are in Iowa City right now at a hotel (courtesy of our amazing friends J&L...we love you guys), the kids are at my parents house (we love you guys too), Chris is sleeping, and I'm blogging. There I go being Captain Obvious again. And guess what. I forgot his morphine at home. I grabbed every other vitamin

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com3http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/pre-surgery-update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-10112137679478660432011-04-12T12:14:00.000-05:002011-04-12T12:14:32.706-05:002011-04-12T12:14:32.706-05:00

The last week has brought some of what Ann calls the "hard eucharisteo" (in her book, which I'm giving away today!), for Chris especially. But even during trials of every kind, there is still so much for which to be thankful! You can read more about our week by searching for the label "papa bird's burns", or just click here. I'll share a  pre-surgery update as soon as we get the final details.

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com6http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/one-thousand-gifts-04-12-2011-giveaway.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-54621847980077486132011-04-10T23:32:00.000-05:002011-04-10T23:32:03.964-05:002011-04-10T23:32:03.964-05:00

There isn't much new to report since my last update, but I did take a few photos of how Chris's legs look today, so I thought I'd post those for the curious and strong-stomached. The photos will be posted at the bottom of the post so you can still read the update without having to see the gore if you don't want to. :) Chris's pain is being managed a bit better using a combination of morphine and

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com3http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/quick-update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-10402987872972831232011-04-09T07:57:00.001-05:002011-04-09T07:57:00.800-05:002011-04-09T07:57:00.800-05:00

The {week four} winner* of One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp is.... ...the 2nd person to comment on my giveaway post. That would be Murdock's Mama! Email your shipping address to me at mamabirddanielle {at} gmail {dot} com and I'll get it ordered right away! I hope you love it! And if you didn't win, you'll just have to come back on Monday to try again! :) I'm giving away one more book

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com1http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/giveaway-winner_09.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-7251757719434500822011-04-08T23:59:00.001-05:002011-04-09T01:04:27.220-05:002011-04-09T01:04:27.220-05:00

(I really need to come up with more creative titles!) Wow what a day. I'd be in bed right now but I need to push drugs on my husband at 12:30, so I'm killing time instead of going to bed only to wake up in 5 seconds. :) This morning, Chris woke up in even more pain than the last few days. He wasn't scheduled to see the doctor or anything, but we were planning to fill his script for pain

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com1http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/yet-another-update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-42809914671747135742011-04-08T12:55:00.000-05:002011-04-09T01:04:27.221-05:002011-04-09T01:04:27.221-05:00

Chris called the clinic this morning to look into getting gauze and prescription pain medication, and upon speaking with him, they've decided they want him to get a second opinion from the burn specialists in Iowa City. So right now, we're waiting on someone to come out to our house to rewrap both of Chris's calves. Both of his bandages fell off this morning and he's sitting in our not-so-sterile

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com7http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/another-update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-72257495495050103152011-04-08T00:24:00.000-05:002011-04-09T01:04:27.223-05:002011-04-09T01:04:27.223-05:00

It's past midnight and I'm soooo ready for bed, so I'm using bullet points. If anything is confusing, just leave me a comment (or send me an email: mamabirddanielle (at) gmail (dot) com). Or just pretend it's coherent and laugh at me. Either way's good. :) Chris had a re-check again today and also saw a burn/ulcer specialist. He came home with all kinds of new information. The specialist will

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com0http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/update-on-chris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-41930654503691783752011-04-07T13:31:00.002-05:002011-04-07T13:33:24.132-05:002011-04-07T13:33:24.132-05:00

I just started reading Devotions for Lent (online version here) and this poem by Frederick Ohler was in there. It really spoke to my heart, and I wanted to share it with you. AWE-FULL Great and holy God awe and reverence fear and trembling do not come easily to us for we are not Old Testament Jews or Moses or mystics or sensitive enough. Forgive us for slouching into Your presence with little

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com0http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/i-want-to-be-awe-full-so-im-not-so.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-6654616629358882262011-04-06T22:57:00.001-05:002011-04-19T23:05:36.529-05:002011-04-19T23:05:36.529-05:00

Warning: this post contains images that some might consider graphic, grody, icky, or all of the above. Consider yourself warned. :) Monday night Chris worked late, so I fed the kids supper, read some Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, did our Bible story and prayers, and tucked the kids in bed. I came downstairs to finish up the supper dishes, and as I was scrubbing my last pot, someone knocked

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com8http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/proof-that-wet-cement-can-burn-skin.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-36618246316741068782011-04-06T17:24:00.003-05:002011-04-07T11:15:44.482-05:002011-04-07T11:15:44.482-05:00

NOTE: At the end of these match-up posts there will be a survey each week so I can keep tabs on whether or not anyone is finding these posts useful. I really appreciate your participation! :) Sorry this is so super late. It's been a crazy-ish week already, hubby got 3rd degree burns on his legs on Monday (more on that later), and Fareway has a HUGE ad this week, so it's taken me awhile to juggle

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com3http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/fareway-coupon-matchups-462011-4122011.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-76537175226111564782011-04-04T15:10:00.000-05:002011-04-04T15:10:38.211-05:002011-04-04T15:10:38.211-05:00

More gifts. And to think...the ones written down are only the rare few that I actually remember to record. He spoils us...even though we're so unworthy. {Giveaway details are at the end of this post!} #127 - A couple hours out by myself. No shopping to do. No work needing to be done. Just me. And God. #128 - He loves me. Oh how He loves me. #129 - a great school day with very few major

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com7http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/one-thousand-gifts-04-04-2011-giveaway.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-48453225746324537282011-04-01T13:20:00.000-05:002011-04-01T13:20:20.650-05:002011-04-01T13:20:20.650-05:00

The {week three} winner* of One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp is.... ...the 8th person to comment on my giveaway post. That would be Amy! Email your shipping address to me at mamabirddanielle {at} gmail {dot} com and I'll get it ordered right away! I pray it blesses you tremendously. And if you didn't win, you'll just have to come back on Monday to try again! :) I'm giving away two more

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com0http://www.amamabird.com/2011/04/giveaway-winner.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-76705535081499041312011-03-30T14:23:00.003-05:002011-03-31T11:33:18.741-05:002011-03-31T11:33:18.741-05:00

My dear friend (whom I've yet to actually meet), Tyler, challenged her readers to bring their quiet time with God a step further. She suggested that we ask God a question, and then spend time listening for His answer. This is an area of my spiritual life that I don't practice enough. While I frequently recognize when God is speaking to me, I don't just sit and listen for him regularly. I long to

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com3http://www.amamabird.com/2011/03/i-love-you.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3065661221114224302.post-40341467409242368172011-03-29T15:12:00.002-05:002011-04-02T02:05:48.816-05:002011-04-02T02:05:48.816-05:00

NOTE: At the end of these match-up posts there will be a survey each week so I can keep tabs on whether or not anyone is finding these posts useful. I really appreciate your participation! :) These deals are valid for the Pella/Oskaloosa/Knoxville stores. Other locations may vary. Prices valid 3/30 - 4/5, except where noted. FAREWAY DEALS - 2-DAY SALEKnoxville Only - Fri, 4/1 and Sat, 4/2

Mama Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06991775802745146589noreply@blogger.com0http://www.amamabird.com/2011/03/fareway-coupon-matchups-33011-4511.html