January

I keep thinking I have nothing to post about, but really, it's that I haven't taken any pictures to post.  And my favorite part of blogging is seeing pictures.  But this IS my only journal, so pictures or not, I better keep it updated.

I'm grateful for a few things lately:

1.  Lainey's overall health.  She's been our healthiest baby by far.  I let my other two get tangled in the cycle of getting ear infections, giving them antibiotics, which then weakened their immune systems, and gave them more colds- that antibiotics can't help, and thus more ear infections.  Brielle had a continual ear infection from age 6 months to almost 18 months old.  Ashton was just shy of that long.  Brielle had tubes put in her ears.  With Lainey, we did more natural measures with her first ear infection and it was not only gone within 24 hours, but the only one she's had and the only cold she's had.  Which also didn't last long or get very bad.  Last weekend she threw up once and had some fevers that were gone by Monday when I would be able to take her in to get it checked.

Yesterday was her well child apt. and I told the Dr. about her fevers and Lainey's leg she's been avoiding putting weight on for about a week now.  Unfortunately, whatever virus she had over the past weekend caused a little inflammation in her hip joint which takes about a week more to heal than the virus her fever was fighting.  It makes her not want to put any weight on it so she's not walking along furniture anymore.  But that just means my dishwasher is safe while I load it, the toilet paper isn't getting snitched and shredded, and books on the end tables can keep their pages for a few more days!   We're just happy she's feeling great and happy again so quickly.  We did take her to the chiropractor for a second opinion on the leg, and he couldn't find anything wrong with her bone alignments.  Looks like the pediatrician must be right.  I hadn't ever heard of that, but her leg does seem to be a little better every day.

I'm grateful for Todd being back in school.  This one is bittersweet because it means his time with family is cut shorter.  But he started this semester back at George Whythe (online) last week continuing working toward a masters.  I REALLY enjoy hearing what he learns from what he reads and what the online class discussions teach him.  With work and triathlon training, I'm impressed that he can balance so much.  He actually took last semester off.  It's such a great education to read about history, politics, philosophy, religion, science, mathematics, etc. - all from classics written as those things evolved.  It helps to follow the train of thinking in the time line that way.  I like what he learns and how it applies to our country's current situation, our state, even our city and their issues of late.  It makes it all easier to see flaws in the system when you see that flaw somewhere in world history and why it turned out to be a flaw for them then.  They're reading Plato right now.  I never imagined he or I reading... Plato.

I'm also grateful that our house is getting some much needed TLC.  We've been watching the interest rates drop drastically and wish we could take advantage!  We decided in December that our New Year's resolution was that 2010 would be the year we build.  We want to put our house on the market soon and see what happens.  So we're cleaning out drawers, cupboards, closets, de-cluttering and de-junking.  We're doing little repairs and updates.  We had a friend tile our bathrooms and laundry floors.  We're putting up decorations in the remaining undecorated rooms of the house to get it ready to stage it.  It's fun to see changes happen quickly.  Even if most of them are small.

My Dad is going to Afghanistan.  I'm not grateful that he is at a higher risk of danger than he would be if he were home, even though where he is going is supposedly very safe.  But I'm happy for my parents financially.  It's such a well paying job he's been accepted for, working in air traffic control in Afghanistan, that it will be a great blessing for them when he his done there.  He's in Kansas training right now.  They memorize the maps and frequencies and everything involved in that area before arriving there.  He is hired for up to one year.  But how long he stays is up to him.  I'm sure it will be hard for my mom, Marty, and April to be without him so long.  But they're all being strong and excited for the adventure.  I'm excited for him too.

I am EXTREMELY grateful and excited to say that Brielle is growing out of her rocking/banging.  Or at least gaining control over it since she's never really been able to control it.  For anyone reading who did not know, since she was a baby she used to put herself to sleep by hitting her head.  She started by sitting up in the crib and rocking back to bang the back of her head against the bars.  It evolved into being on her hands and knees and hitting the top of her head forward onto the wall when she got a big girl bed.  We put the mattress in the middle of the room and it turned into burying her head in her pillow and rocking her body while still on hands and knees.  That last one is not near as LOUD as her other techniques used to be, but it really threw her neck out.  She did this out of habit and as a sensory need.

We had her checked by every kind of Dr. or specialist under the sun.  The pediatrician said kids just like to rock and to rock her to sleep before bed.  She wouldn't let us rock her.  The occupational therapist said it was a vestibular pressure need and to give her a trampoline, which Brielle loved, but it changed nothing.  The chiropractor said it was subluxation and we took her routinely for months to fix it, but the rocking put her neck out as fast as it could be put in. A bump on her head began to form from it.  The dermatologist said it was clogged itchy poor ducts on her scalp causing the banging even though the bump and dry skin weren't there when the banging started.  A friend who is a special ed worker thought it might be Autism, the social worker said "No way she's too social." The family doctor said it was lack of stimulation or lack of melatonin and offered to give a prescription that she'd then be dependent on for the rest of her life to be able to fall asleep, IF that was even the need.  The physical therapist said it wasn't that at all, but was over-stimulation.  The ear Dr. said it was the ear infections...

At some point you just have to be your child's own specialist.  Since, all across the board, they said she'd grow out of it between ages 4 and 7, we finally let it go and ignored it.  Even though, she was apparently the worst case any of them had ever seen.

Well, Brielle has now gone 7 nights without doing it at all.  I'm hoping she keeps it up!  Way to go Brielle!  It's so hard a habit to break because she often does it without even realizing.

I'm also VERY excited to announce that my sister, Rachele is engaged!  She and John haven't set an exact date yet, but they are hoping for a Spring or August wedding in 2011.  This year my dad will be gone.  But they wanted a long engagement anyway.  I have to admit I am so used to Mormon standard engagement times for weddings so that seems like SUCH a long time to be engaged for.  But it's pretty standard these days.  She's looking at dresses and has her colors picked out.  I got a call from her yesterday and she's asked me to be a bride's maid!  I am beyond excited!  It may sound silly to care so much, but I've never been a bridesmaid.  I don't know, something about that makes me feel jipped of a normal life's experience.  Or like I had no friends or something.  My 3 best friends got married while I was on my mission, and my closest roommates who got married after I got back, got married so far away that I was too poor a newlywed to even attend their weddings!  Anyway, I can't wait for another wedding!  Woo hoo!