Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Hannah

Hannah was seen by her nurse today. She has been struggling to gain weight. She grew 1/3" and gained 5oz. So her Body Mass Index has plummeted even further. She is malnourished and we have to put her back on tube feedings now. She has to have her tube replaced because the closure broke on it. We go in on Friday to the surgeon's office. He will replace it for us. It is supposed to be quick but they have to restrain the kids. This sucks big time let me tell you! But it will be very good to get her metabolism functioning correctly again and hopefully we can try again soon to get Hannah to stay out of a cronically starved plateau. Pray for Hannah as she struggles with this terrible disorder. It makes me pretty angry that this isn't something she can't just get out off. She is currently under the 3rd percentile for her weight to height ratio. 28lbs 2oz and 41.06 inches tall.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Computers!!!

My computer went quits again. This sucks. Writing from downstairs but I can't get on it regularly so I'll let everyone know when I'm alive again. LOL

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Asher 5 weeks old now!

Holy cow time goes by fast. Time is a funny thing though isn't it? Sometimes you wish time would go by slow so that you can enjoy the moment and other times you wish it would go by fast so that you can get to the point in life where you want it to go by slow. Strange. Perhaps I should just wish time would go by at a nice pace that never changes........technically it does. LOL




Anyhow, here is my sweet baby weighing in at nearly 10 pounds now! What a little chunk and I think he'll be my rockstar with that hair! :)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Catching Up Again

Ok - So I have a few things to catch up on. I have been a little busy with appointments and finishing things with the house. First off, Hananh has gained weight. She was checked yesterday and weighes 28lbs 6oz. That is just great! Maizer weighes 27lbs 6oz and Asher weighes 9lbs 12oz.

I have lost 4 pounds this week which is also great!

Josh picked up a spinet piano for me that I found for free on craigslist yesterday. It is in good shape and came with a bench. I need to have it tuned and maybe 3 strings at the very top need new strings. We'll see what the tuner man says. I own an upright piano already but I wanted one that doesn't overwhelm the space in our home and a spinet is an upright that isn't tall.



It looks good but does need to be refinished.

I also haven't posted any pictures of Josh's mom coming to visit us for a very short weekend. Here she is with the kids.





And no - she doesn't always have her sunglasses on. LOL

I see my Dr. this Friday and then I will start working on getting the baby weight off. I do hope to lose 3 more pounds this week just so I can go into my appointment with 30 pounds total lost since giving birth. That would be awesome!!!

Well, I am off to clean the house and take care of a bunch of sick kids. :( All 3 of them.

Friday, July 17, 2009

New News!

Here is what's going on with us:

The Good News

I am feeling a lot better. I would say I am up to 90% now and feel great most of the time. I really needed last week when the ladies from church took my kids Tues, Wed, Thurs., and Mon. Now I can get things done while managing the kids and I can't wait to get on a better schedule to fit in art time and outside time. It will be awesome.

The Bad news

My children are quite different than other kids. Their eating habits leave much to be desired. First off Maizer is little and he is only speaking half real talk and half baby talk. To people he doesn't know it isn't much at all. I have trouble getting him to eat all he should at home and he never asks for things he needs. I just make sure he gets them. So, when he was at these homes 4 to 5 hours a day he wasn't fed well and when I called to check on one house I found that he wasn't given a snack because he hadn't said he was hungry. I told her then that he would never tell her what he needs because I always just meet his needs and he is a laid back soul who is shy around others. So, please make sure to feed him and change him. Well, he wasn't changed either. But this was just one house and the other's seemed pretty good as I updated very well before the kids left.

Now Hannah...Hannah eats food pretty good these days compared to how she was doing. Still not as much as other kids and we don't have her outside for more than 2 to 3 hours at the most. Hannah played so hard while at the other houses with the kids outside running around and such that she easily spent more calories than she took in. She lost an entire pound these last two weeks after finally getting back to the weight she was at when we stopped using her G Tube. This is a terrible setback as now we may have to start her on it again. She weighes 27lbs 13oz. This is what she weighed last year in July. She fell below the 3rd percentile for weight again and this is dangerous territory. And to top it off she started not feeling well yesterday. I hate to have to put her back on tube feedings so please pray that she can bounce back quickly now that she won't be going to any other homes to play.

P.S. What concerns the nurse as well is that Hannah's appetite did not increase with increase in activity. She should match her activity level and she didn't. We obviously can't shelter her from play just to plump her up. Sigh.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Gymboree Madness

Here are some pictures of the cute outfit Kristine won. I seriously have a Gymboree addiction. LOL




Monday, July 13, 2009

A Good Example



Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My heavens where does the time go? Another Monday already? Asher is 4 weeks old now! I'm sure I have a few Not Me's! somewhere so let me dig and dish!

I did not wash my bra in the shower while washing myself up too out of desperation for a clean nursing bra and then dry it in the dryer real fast. Not Me! That's just nuts!

I did not wish the lovely ladies who babysat for me would just sign up for the year and not just the week. That would be selfish and of course that would also mean other people raising my little ones and that's not cool, right? Hmmm, not me!

I did not stay up till 5am with the baby even though he slept for a couple of hours after midnight sometime and not even realize I did it until I checked the clock. I must be an absolute zombie at times! Not me!

I did not actually talk about sex with a woman I just met because she brought it up first. I have more sensibilities than that! Not Me!

I did not imagine in my mind all the things I would have liked to have said to an old lady and didn't when she commented that I better stop having kids so I can have a life. I'm an adult now so I can voice my feeligs freely, right? My childhood lessons of respect your elders had nothing to do with me being silent and just smiling. Not me!

Overall, I acted a bit like white trash last week but redeemed myself with the old lady I think. Whew, I can still be a good example some of the time! LOL

A winner!!

Kristine H. is the winner! She sent me a picture of my blog page and counter with an exact hit of 2500!!!! Wow! Ok Kristine - email me your address and what you would like for gender and size! I'll take a picture of the adorable outfit so I can show all of you what she won! Stay tuned for my Not Me! Monday post.

Gymboree Contest

We may have a winner for the 2500th visitor! If you were close let me know at chloescornercloset@hotmail.com! The winner will be announced very soon! My numbers jumped so fast I didn't even have time to warn you blog maniacs that it was coming up! I love you guys! You're the best!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

An Ode to Katie

There are some things in life that touch you so deeply. A memory, a smell, a touch, a look, and in this case .... a song.

Oh how I love my sisters. But this little sister of mine is the sister I wish to write about today. There has always been a sweet connection to my sister Katie. As our life paths have taken us down very different roads she has never been out of my thoughts or out of my prayers or far from my heart.

We grew up with a mother who had a hard life and committed suicide when I was 12. Katie was only 8. This experience was confusing, sad, chaotic, and much more. All three of us girls, my mother's daughters, were tossed into the air and where we would land defined our future. Unfortunately for my little Katie Bug it was in my mother's footsteps. A life held down by drugs and Katie's drug of choice is a meth addiction. A love/hate relationship that the song below so amazingly describes. This song has touched my soul and has brought me back once again to my Katie.

Where is she now? After a year clean she has been seduced yet again by the never ending pull of sweet release, disgusting release, loving release, sickening release. I can not win. This awful desire is stronger than my love for her. I have spent all my strength and energy wrenching her free from it's grasp so that she may gain back her sense of worth, the worth I know she has. Oh, the tears I cry yearning for a life filled with purpose and joy and love for my sweet sister.

I may not have power over this evil called meth but I laugh in it's face! Because I do have power in MY purpose. I have STRENGTH in my convictions, my love, my sisterhood. I will never give up on her. I will never let her go. I will never stop telling her the truth in the midst of the lies that surround her.

Katie - You are LOVED. You are worth EVERYTHING. You have my DEVOTION. We will always be SISTERS. This bond can not be broken by the destruction you cling to.

I love you.

The words above in bold is all I can give to you. My Strength.


"Gravity" by Sara Bareilles

Click to listen to The Song


Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long
No matter what I say or do
I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone

You hold me without touch
You keep me without chains
I never wanted anything so much
Than to drown in your love and not feel your rain

CHORUS:
Set me free, leave me be
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall
Just the way I'm supposed to be
But you're on to me and all over me

Oh, you loved me 'cause I'm fragile
When I thought that I was strong
But you touch me for a little while
And all my fragile strength is gone

CHORUS

I live here on my knees
As I try to make you see
That you're everything I think I need
Here on the ground
But you're neither friend nor foe
Though I can't seem to let you go
The one thing that I still know is that
You're keeping me down
Oooh

Keeping me down
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

You're on to me, on to me and all over

Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long...

Friday, July 10, 2009

All Aboard!!!!

Ok - so here is the post I wanted to share with you and see what you think!

I only have 2 more weeks postpartum and then I will be free to exercise. So here's the deal.....I want to lose my baby weight and then some. I have lost 22 pounds since giving birth but I gained 54 pounds in the pregnancy. So you see I have a bit to lose plus I want to get lower than where I was when I got pregnant. I have 32 pounds of baby weight to still lose and then I want to lose 28 more pounds after that for a grand total of ...... 60 pounds!!!

Can you and will you all hop aboard the Chubba Chubba Gone Gone and encourage, help, give tips, and much love while I try to stay focused on this?

In return I will post weekly photo updates and stats (like pounds lost, inches lost, what I am doing for exercise, what I am eating, and most importantly what I am struggling with and need help on).

Let me know if I can count on you! Leave me a coment and a suggestion on how to start or what you are doing to stay in shape or lose weight. What has worked for you?

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

An Incredible Contest!!!

Who would like a beautiful new outfit from Gymboree? Any size....boy or girl...you choose! Here is how you win!

Be my 2,500th visitor!!! I am currently at 2,122. The counter is on the left sidebar under my profile. It's the last item on the sidebar. Take a pic to show me how close you got!!! The counter goes pretty quick so keep your eyes open!

I'll post another reminder when it gets close and if you win, comment and let me know. You can email me your pic!

There is a catch.... the counter MUST hit 2500 by next Thursday July 16th or contest if off. Why you ask? I am using a special coupon to buy the clothes and it expires soon. :)

Monday, July 6, 2009

A Heaven on Earth

The last few posts have all been about the hard times while trying to get on track here, but I wanted everyone to know what's really important. My family.



Asher after his bath. His hair is so fun! I love being able to hold him and get to know him. I love his little smiles that are coming through now.


The love I have for my children is so deep it can hardly be expressed in words.



Maizer's beautiful loving eyes pierce my soul and my love for him overflows. What a sweet spirit he has! He's my cuddle bug.

I always dreamt of being a mother and my life could have gone in so many different directions. But I made good choices when it mattered and I am a mother of three beautiful children.




Hannah is a gorgeous little girl who is so smart and energetic. She keeps me on my toes and is loving and compassionate to her family and others. She has a strong testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus and loves to go up and tell everyone in church about it on fast Sunday. :) She is a lot like me and has made me grow the most as a mother in very wonderful ways. I love her so very much!



I can't wait to get a photo with all three of my miracles! I may have hard days and crazy times but I wouldn't change my life for anything else. I am blessed beyond words and I know it. I don't go a day without it passing through my mind all the blessings I am grateful for. Nothing is taken for granted.....nothing.



I love this picture because Josh is in white, the walls are white, the baby has a white diaper and everything (besides the bit of tv behind him) looks so Heavenly. Just as it should be. A Heaven on Earth!

I got the baby boy blues!




Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Another week and I am grateful that last week is over!

I did not have a harrowing week last week that caused me to cry on several occasions questioning my sanity. Why you ask? Well, let's get a run down...

First, I did not have to take all 3 kids to a hearing appointment for my new baby to check his ears out and make sure he can hear us right, which I knew he could. And I did not have to try to keep 2 kids in order while breastfeeding the baby just so he wouldn't cry with the ear plugs in his ears! Not Me!

Second, I did not attempt to have a normal day and do what I would if I didn't have 3 kids by going to Walmart after the hearing appt. and having the kiddos pick out toys with their grandma money. And while there I did not have to stop and breastfeed in public, I did not stop to change a baby diaper, and the trip certainly did not take 2hours!!! That isn't quite what I would consider normal and so we head home - another 35 minute drive. Not Me!

Third, my poor baby boy did not have to get circumcized the very next day and we certainly did not have to corral the other 2 kids because who brings other kids to a circumcision appointment????? Not Me!

Fourth, I did not blow off a home nutrition nurse appointment for my little girl who has a feeding tube because I had to rush my new baby back to the clinic as things weren't going well after the circumcision and I totally spaced that she was coming in the first place. And my poor unsuspecting father-in-law did not have to be there for it when she showed up on the doorstep. Not Me!

Fifth, I did not tell a sweet lady from church on Friday that things could be better and that I felt like crying a lot as my week was tough that she took pity on me and surprised me on Sunday with a sign up list for meals to be brought in to us all week! Not to mention the babysitting arranged for my older 2 so I could get a couple hours of rest during the week. I must have seemed desperate! Not Me!

And lastly, I certainly did not sit around all week thinking of all the ways I could get my body back while breastfeeding and taking in enough calories so I can feel beautiful and sexy and not like a mother of 3 who just turned 31! Not Me!

If 6 reasons aren't enough to convince you of my title - well I can always add more!!!!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

What's with today, today?

If you have seen Empire Records then you know the quote in my title. I saw it when I was like 18 - so last year!. (I don't want to admit how long ago that actually was.)

Today Asher was circumcized and we can all safely say that mommy and son alike are traumatized. I have a raging headache and can not STAND to see my baby crying like that. Not to mention that I am engorged and my shoulders are on fire. A little too much stress today you say? Hmmm, I suppose so.

Bought the kiddos McDonalds, held it together long enough to settle everyone and begin pumping. And then I melt down. Yes, I'm crying like an exhausted mommy of 3 does when she hasn't had any help and the house is a mess with no clean clothes for me. Yet everyone else has clean clothes....what is up with that??? So, I threw in a load for myself and am now getting ready to make sure my younger ones are occupied and safe before lying down in my bed praying to the heavens that my precious infant stays sleeping so that I don't have to bother the tiny Asher if you know what I mean.

Stay tuned for an interesting post that I would like all of your opinions on! It has to do with ...well, ME!