Yikes 103.3

It's late, I just got home from the ER. My youngest daughter, who is now 7 months old, had a fever of 103.3 degrees tonight. She was warm on a few occasions last week, but always, the next day or two she was back to normal. She isn't congested, isn't coughing, has no runny nose, is "peeing and pooping" fine, has a normal appetite, and has been acting pretty normally as well.

But after her afternoon nap today, she woke up feeling warm. I didn't think too much of it because she had been fine in the morning and she was still acting quite normal. But after dinner I picked her up to nurse her whole body, arms, legs, hands and all just felt way too warm for my liking.

I had my oldest daughter get our thermometer out and took her temperature under her arm. It was 101.7. I knew her temperature would be up, but I wasn't thinking it would be that high. I also know that taking a baby's temp under the arm usually gives a read out of about 1 degree BELOW actual temperature, so that's when I decided to just take her in and see what was going on.

The ER dr said her ears, throat, and chest were all fine. He didn't see any rashes on her and basically didn't see anything "alarming" that he could attribute her fever to. They gave her some medicine for her fever while we were there and by the time we left her temperature had gone down a bit to 102.9.

We were discharged with instructions to give her fever reducing medicines to help with her temperature and to follow up with our regular dr in a few days. It's a bit annoying that the ER dr couldn't tell me anything I didn't already know. But at that same time, I'm glad to know that it's not something really serious and I wasn't ignoring/missing some sign that my baby was really sick. So now it's time for bed for all of us. It's times like these I'm glad I don't work outside the home - I'm thinking tomorrow will be a rest/take care of baby (and mom) day.

She Thinks She Can Stand

Yes, my daughter at 6 months old, thinks she can stand up! It was just a few weeks ago that she couldn't even crawl yet. She was just turning 6 months at the time and I remember thinking that she would start crawling soon, but I was glad that she wasn't really that milestone early. It seems like the older you get and the more kids you have, the less anxious you are for them to hit those upcoming milestones and "grow up."

So I had no problem with the fact that she was already 6 months old and not even "army crawling" yet which my oldest was doing at 5 months. Then what happened?

The following Saturday, she started army crawling. She was finally moving forward instead of moving backwards.

Then, the very next Saturday (just one week after learning to move forward) she got up on her hands and knees for the first time and started crawling like that every now and then.

THEN, the Saturday after that, she thinks she can stand up! She was already crawling over to furniture and pulling herself into a standing position! Not only that, she figured out how to go from the crawling position into the sitting position without any help. TOO FAST!!!!

The week after that I noticed her start off on her hands and knees, then next thing I know she is just on her hands and FEET (butt in the air) looking at me like, "Hey Mom! Isn't this cool?"

Man...so fast, just a few weeks ago, she was 6 months old and moving backwards on her tummy. Then before she even reached 7 months she's doing all this stuff. Yes, it's cool, but she's also growing up sooooooo faaaaaaaast.

Oh, and did I mention that she has 4 teeth already? You can see two of them in this picture...

Separation Anxiety

I guess it's about that time when my daughter is at the age that separation anxiety starts. She's starting to grumble if I'm by her then walk away. She's starting to protest when I hand her over to someone else. And she's very "verbal" about it. She lets you know, quite loudly, what she thinks about having to be away from mom. It's amazing how much of her own personality she already has at 6 1/2 months. She's just growing up way to fast for my liking. ;P

One weekend she was just learning to move about on her belly, the next weekend she was up on her knees crawling, and now she's able to go from the crawling position into a sitting position. I wasn't expecting that to happen so soon. For a baby that's carried a lot (since there are so many hands to carry her what with her being the youngest of 5) she sure does move around a lot.

Right now I'm looking at her sitting down playing her brother's cars. She's so cute because she's the brownest baby I've had. She's got a good looking tan....and I thought I'd never have a "brown" baby. LOL On top of that, she's got the waviest hair of us all right on top of her head.

How Do You Know When You're Done?

Having kids I mean....how do you know when you're done? My husband and I have been blessed with being able to have our children with little medical issues. We've never made our decision on whether or not to add another based on our financial situation either. Since we don't have health or financial reasons to help us make the decision to me "done" how am I going to know when I'm done? Do you really feel done when you're done?

The thing is, I've felt "done" before. After I had my son, I really thought that was it. I felt complete, I felt done, I felt like never going through the whole labor and delivery thing again, I felt too worried about not making to the hospital the next time to even consider trying for a "next time." And yet, here I am, 3 1/2 years later with one more child wondering when I'll be done.

I've always said 2 or 4 kids, but obviously I'm beyond that now, I have 5. Of course, almost everyone I see asks me if I'm done and I have no clue. I guess the thing that's adding to it is a career issue. I have the chance to become the head coach of the softball team I assist with now, not next season, but the season after that. I know how hard it is to commit time and give my all when I have an infant. I don't want to short change the players, but to be honest, if that was not part of the equation, I may already be trying for another. So I'm torn.

My husband and my children want more. They also want me to take the head coaching job if it is offered to me. I don't like committing to something like that if I can't give my all and I am so limited to what I have to offer when I'm toting around a baby.

It's funny though....now that I've written this all out, the slight inconvenience of having an infant during ONE softball season no longer seems to outweigh what we want/may want as a family. Hmmmm....we'll see what happens I guess.

If you're done, how did you know you were done?

If you're not done, how will you decide when you are?

My Baby Likes Tags

My daughter is now 6 months old and she loves tags. One day, my sister gave her a little teething toy. It was some kind of squishy/stuffed animal with a plastic bone in it's mouth. Okay, now that I think about it, maybe that "animal" was a dog. Anyway, this dog had many things for my daughter to bite on. The feet, the arms, the ears, and of course, the plastic bone. After all, that's what it was made for. But what is it that she finds interesting? What part of the toy soothes her and makes her stop crying? Yep, the tag. You know, the one that says who made it, where it was made, washing instructions, etc. Yeah, that's the part that she likes to put in her mouth. That's the part that keeps her quiet.

As I sit here and type, my son's Cars pillow is on the ground near us. Again, she goes for the tag.

It's funny how these baby/toddler toys are developed to be the right color, size, and shape to be stimulating and interesting for our little one's eyes and how their texture is made for their little one's touch. And yet, that's not always what grabs their attention.

As I sit here on my living room floor, there are toys scattered about. But what is my daughter's little hands are working on overdrive to grab. What is it she wants? The keys on my laptop! Yes, she wants to type with me. She crawls at top speed toward my laptop and pays the toys no attention whatsoever. If there is something other than my laptop she's interested in, it's not the things she can play with. It's the little piece of candy wrapper rubbish left on the ground by her sisters, or the lone sunflower seed that somehow made it's way from the softball field to my living room floor, or a random piece of plastic who's origin is unknown, or the penny someone dropped under the couch. All things that she really shouldn't be putting in her mouth. That's my daughter, completely uninterested in the items that intellectual baby people somewhere spent hours to develop.

I Got a New Toy

My husband bought it for me as an Anniversary gift, but he let me pick it out because he figured he'd probably choose the wrong one (he was right by the way - he told me which one he probably would have bought). So he just took me to the digital camera section of the store and told me to pick one. I thought we were going there to look at TV's again (LOL) so there was still a bit of a surprise factor even though I picked my own gift.

I have a smaller convenient, easy to carry camera, but this is a bigger, "can do more things" camera. Here's a picture I took with it. Nothing fancy, but I like it because my other camera, while it has a nice big LCD screen, does not take pics in black and white.


...and yep, this is the baby...4 months in this pic.

5 months in this one - so fast


I'm loving the camera so far. Plus it helps to have cute subject matter. ;)

Give Me My Sunglasses

One day I bought my son (age 3) Cars sunglasses. My son LOVES Cars. So anyway, he was wearing all over the place that day while we were running errands. Eventually, we got hungry and sat down to eat lunch at a restaurant (indoors). While we were eating, my son took off his new sunglasses and put them on the table. His oldest sister (age 11) decide to make trouble and steal the sunglasses and put it on her head.

My son didn't really notice, but I saw what happened to so I told him, "Your sister took your glasses."

He looked over and saw his glasses on his sister's head and immediately demanded her to give them back. However, my daughter was in a rascal mood, so she was giving him a hard time. He tried to take them off her head, but she moved away. He wasn't up for her games, so he points toward a window and tells her, "Hellooooo! Can't you see all the sun in my eye?"

My daughter and I were cracking up laughing. We were indoors and there was certainly no sun in his eyes and he hadn't worn the glasses the whole time we were in the restaurant. He didn't put them on after he got them back either. He just put them back on the table and kept a closer eye on them.

I Want "Awfuls!"

One morning my oldest daughter wanted Eggo's for breakfast. So I put a few in the toaster oven for her while she started on her school work for the day (she does distance learning). My 3-year-old son hears the toaster oven timer ticking and decides to check it out. He sees the Eggo's in the toaster oven and, since he can't quite see over the counter and into the toaster oven very well, he asks me what I'm making. I tell him, "I'm making waffles."

He gets all excited and says, "Ooooh awfuls! I want awfuls!"

Why Do My Boogers Smell Like Fish?

My answer to 6 year old son:

"My guess would be because you ate salmon for dinner, honey."

Don't you just love these endearing parent-child moments?

3D Ultrasound Pictures - I'm Amazed

Then again what mother isn't amazed when they see their baby? LOL

I didn't think I was going to do this, but my husband asked about it and I caved in. I know there are people out there who are absolutely against unnecessary ultrasounds, but after we did this one I felt like it was a good decision for my own personal reasons.

So - for those of you who are curious, I'll share some of the pictures we got. We are still firmly on Team Green though the tech was asking us if we could tell by the face if it was a boy or girl. Seeing as how my youngest daughter and my son look very much alike, I find it quite pointless to try to determine gender by face alone. Of course, most people I've shared this with has an opinion on what they think and I find each one interesting, so feel free to share yours.

We were also told that fluid level was good and that baby was measuring accurately with my dates so that was good to hear too.

Okay...here are the pictures...







Personally...I've never seen one like this before, so it's one of my favorites.

Doing the Distance Learning Thing

So today was Day 2 of my daughter's first experience with a new charter school here in Hawaii which offers distance learning. My daughter is in 6th grade and for elementary, parents are the primary ones who "deliver" the curriculum. Soooo, that means I get to go over the information with her, I get to tell her what to work on, and I get to give her assignments.

I was a little worried that we'd both get overwhelmed, but so far it seems to be going well. I know the more we do it, the more efficient we'll get, but so far, not so bad. Also, I LOVE knowing exactly what she is supposed to be learning and doing. Sometimes I worry that I'm making her do too much and she'll rebel. Thankfully, so far she may make small grumbling gestures here and there, but they are short lived and she's done everything I've asked. I'm surprised at how much she remembers when I ask her questions about what we've gone over.

Anyway - wish us luck. I hope this goes well because she didn't do all that great in the public elementary school. She wasn't failing, but she certainly wasn't passing with flying colors either. I know it's not because she isn't smart enough. After all, she can remember all the different things a 2nd baseman has to do in all the different situations that can possibly arise AND can actually DO them when the time comes and she only has a half second to react and do the right job for situation that presents itself. Not only that, she can work a sales booth with her grandma for hours on end, and I'm told, she doesn't miss a beat when it comes to giving change or customer's "trying things" with giving wrong payments or trying to take an extra item. So I really don't think "intelligence" per se is the problem, but I think it'll help her for me to be more involved.

We'll see as the year goes on. Of course, this adds another interesting dimension to my day. Who knows, maybe after this I'll be smarter than a 5th grader!

It Still Happens...Even Today...

...Moms die during/after childbirth.

I mean, we've all heard stories about how many women passed during or after childbirth long ago or in countries were medical care isn't what it is here. But when you hear stories of it happening in your own world, it just seems so unreal - but certainly makes you stop and think and realize just how unbelievably blessed we are to be MOMS.

Read such a mom's story at my pregnancy journal.

You Know You're a Mom When...

Recently our local newspaper ran an article that shared some thoughts from Hawaii moms on "You know you're a mom when..."

They gathered the information from HawaiiMoms.com and I just thought you'd get a kick out of reading what some Hawaii Moms had to say. You can read the article HERE.

Wanna know some of my thoughts? Here they are...

You Know You're a Mom When...

...going to the grocery store by yourself is a big treat.

...the word "No" becomes the most commonly used word in your vocabulary.

...the majority of your conversation for the day happens with people who are under the age of 5.

...you look for your kids even when they aren't with you.

...you know that a room of quiet kids often means trouble.

...the day you meet the kids named "I don't know" and "Wasn't me" they are really going to get it!

...you feel super special when you get a meal all to yourself and you don't have to share.

...you don't need an alarm clock to wake up by 7 am

How about you? Do you have some you can share?

Moms Are Not Allowed to be Sick

I don't know about you, but I don't have the time nor the energy to be sick. This weekend my entire family was vomiting. Not pretty. I'm 21 weeks pregnant and was the only one in the house that wasn't throwing up. Strange, but thank goodness it happened that way. It was still a rough weekend because my youngest, who is 2, is at that age where you just kind of have to watch them and rush them to the toilet when it looks like they may blow. They don't exactly give you a lot of warning that it's coming. Then there was the relatively sleepless first night when he was waking throughout the night as well. Thankfully, each time, we were able to get him to the bathroom in time (yes, I was sleeping quite lightly), so there was no bedding to change or clean in the middle of the night.

My husband tried to work yesterday, but ended up coming home early and stayed home today as well. We took him to the dr to get a note for work and the dr confirmed what we thought. It's a virus, which means there is no medicine and it just has to sort of "run it's course." Fortunately, it seems that my husband has reached the "turning point" for this virus and is starting to get over it.

Like I said, I don't have time to be sick. IF I were to catch this virus that's been plaguing my family it would probably be AFTER my husband goes back to work which means that I will be home alone with the kids who are on summer break. There's just no "sick leave" for moms and I know you know what I mean. So I'm hoping that I can stay healthy! I suppose it's a good thing that EVERYONE seemed to be sick at time same time, because with four kids, often times illnesses get "passed around" with everyone "taking turns" making my exposure to the illness longer than if everyone had just gotten sick at the same time and gotten over it at the same time. Plus I always worry that it'll go back around to the one who started it. Thankfully, that's never happened and I sure hope this particular virus goes away and stays away as it seems to be on it's way out for everyone.

My Son Likes Apples

As I sit here and type, my son is sitting on the couch eating an apple. He's two years old. He actually went into the fridge looking for the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I made the other night, but came out with an apple. I was a bit surprised....maybe it was because I put the cookies in a place that's not easily visible to him when he opens the fridge. But then again, the apples were in a drawer, so it's not as if they were easier to see.

Anyway - I'm glad he made a healthy choice! I just need to remember to keep healthy choices available to him in the house. Otherwise, it'll be the cookies for sure.

18 and Moving Out

It's funny how lots of kids think that once they turn 18 they should be able to do whatever they want even if they live at home with mom and dad. To me, 18 is not a "magic" number that suddenly makes you an adult, although, by law you are considered as such. In my eyes, simply turning 18 doesn't necessarily give you the right to be "treated as an adult" if you don't act like one.

I don't have anything against 18 year olds wanting their independence and wanting to do things on their own. Hey, I'm actually even for it. BUT, don't demand the right to have all the freedom of being an adult if you aren't going to also take all the responsibility that comes along with it.

It drives me nuts when young men and women think they no longer have to listen to any of mom and dads rules, yet expect them to continue to provide spending money, buy school supplies, buy clothes, put a roof over their head, provide food for them on a daily basis, pay for their cell phone, pay for prom, pay for senior pictures, pay for gas, pay for car insurance, etc, etc, etc. If mom and dad are still doing ALL of that for you, you most definitely should still abide by their rules. If you don't like their rules and want your freedom and want to do what you want when you want just like an adult, that's totally fine, but be ready to also take full responsibility for being an adult and providing for yourself as well. It just cracks me up when they say, "I'm moving out because I don't like the rules" then they call home every week because they need money or clothes or some other "real world" necessity.

Just the two cents of a mom who will one day have quite a few kids make the passage from "youth" to "adult" at the age of 18.

The Kids Are On Break

Today is the first day of my kids' spring break. I believe they are off for about 3 weeks. Soooo, we went to the library yesterday and got books to read. As I type, the tv is off and they are riding bikes, putting up tents, and riding scooters too. I also have lots of blank paper for drawing! We will plan at least one day to the beach some time this break. This week it's been a bit rainy though, so hopefully the weather clears up and we can get a beach day in. The kids have been bugging to go, so we may as well take advantage of their time off and head to the beach during the week when it's less crowded. Hopefully I can keep my sanity - lol, but that's why we've got lots of activities for them to do and if the weather cooperates and clears up, they'll be able to play outside every day. If not, then we'll all go nuts staying in the house all day.

Swimming Cell Phones

Has your cell phone ever gone swimming? We had DH's nephew, who is 16 months old, for about a week (long story). One night he was cruising with us in the living room watching TV. One minute he was right there with us and the next he was in the bathroom playing with the water in the toilet. During the time we were caring for him, we tried to keep the bathroom door shut and the toilet seat down, but one of my girls must have used the bathroom and forgot to shut everything.

Anyway - I heard him in the bathroom and rushed over there to get his hands out of the toilet. When I got there I realized he was splashing the water with an object. As I got closer to pull his hand and what he was holding out of the toilet, I realized it was DH's cell phone! Of course it was too late to save it. We immediately opened it up, wiped it down, and removed the battery and SIM card, but the phone never did work again. Of course, this had to happen at about 7:30 on a Saturday night when all cell phone stores are closed. And, as luck would have it, DH was expecting some phone calls that weekend. So, we found a place close by that sells those "unlocked" phones and went to pick one up. Cost us over $200!

Why didn't we just wait and use insurance on the phone? Because when we bought it (the Motorola Sliver), we were told that no insurance could be put on that phone. *sigh*

Oh yeah - then we find out that that's about the 3rd phone our nephew has taken swimming in the toilet. I so wish the cell phone companies would come up with water proof phones. But then they'd lose money on people like us who are forced to buy a new phone because ours went swimming.

Are Your Kids Different In School?

I'm always a bit surprised when I go to parent teacher conferences and hear what the teachers think of my kids. My oldest, who I thought I'd have to buy a "Doesn't Play Well With Others" shirt for, was just fine. Her preschool teachers said that she was very compassionate. At the time she was a new "big sister" and sure wasn't always "compassionate" to here new baby sister, or to her "just 3 years older than her" aunties. After that other teachers always said she was quit well respected by her peers which was good to hear.

Then my second daughter, who was my most challenging toddler, turns out to be one of the easiest students in the class to work with and one that the teacher said was the only one to say "Yes" - not "yeah" or"uh-huh" like most of the students in the class.

Then there's my youngest daughter. This is the one that everyone babied until she was 3 1/2 and my son was born. She is the petite, cute one with big brown eyes and she knew how to work it. She's the one that, when we say, "Clean the room" she kind of hangs out looking like the "baby" and kind of just cruises on the side while her sisters do all the work. She knows she can get others to do things for her and uses that angle whenever possible. She plays the "baby" role to the T. But in school, her teacher says she's "Mother Hen." What? LOL. I'm told she's very polite and is no problem in class. The only thing is that sometimes she's not a "quality producer." Meaning that she doesn't always do her work the best that she can. Sometimes she writes messy instead of neat, rushes, instead of doing a good job.

All my girls seem to be that way. I think sometimes they just aren't interested and there's something else they rather be doing, so they just skim through the work. When it comes to quality of work, it's either super neat and very well done or a complete rush and not even close to decent. Anyway - I just thought it was funny that they are all a little different (in good ways) in school.

What about your kids? Are they different at school than at home?

Opinions on Weighing at School

Over at the forum a discussion is brewing regarding schools and weighing of children on a regular basis.

Mila received a notice from her children’s school stating they were going to start weighing the children each year and charting their growth in an attempt to curb the childhood obesity problem. Of course, parents have the option to say no and opt out in this case.

Many moms are concerned that something like this would cause children to put even more stress on themselves in regards to self-image. If done in a way that kids can be privy to the weight of other kids I could see this as becoming a bigger problem than it already is.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you think that the government should be allowed to step in when it comes to our children’s weight? Come on over to the forum and talk with us: Is Weighing in Schools Going too Far?

The kids are back in school

I think they were actually ready to go back to school already. Their last day of school was December 1st, so it's not like they didn't have a nice long winter break. I'm also finding it a bit more relaxing even if I do have to actually wake up when my alarm rings now. I have a little more time to take care of housework. Also, when I do clean up the living area in the house it actually stays clean all day...well, at least until the kids come home from school. LOL

Anyway - my kids are back in school, back to doing homework, and parent teacher conferences are coming up. When do your kids go back?

What's Next for "No Child left Behind"

Wow, it's already been 5 years since President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act. This year, 2007, is the year when the Act expires and must be voted on again by Congress.

What will happen to No Child Left Behind? Most think the idea is a good one, but results or execution leaves much to be desired. Seems that the goal is to get all students proficient in Math and English by the 2013-2014 school year. Some feel that's an unreasonable goal...that never has there been a 100% proficiency in a particular subject. Others think it's attainable, but thus far the implementation of the act has been less than ideal.

Will the No Child Left Behind Act be reauthorized? Some think chances are slim. Others say we need to be patient, educational reform is not something that happens overnight.

What do you think? Here's an article on this topic - Click here.