Changes

Things haven't been too bad since Todd's been gone. It's not always easy to be by myself with 7 children, but when that's how it is, you just do it. The hardest part has been having my mother-in-law living with us. As most could imagine, even with a like able or compatible personality, it could be difficult. Well, there have been some recent events that have necessitated some changes. When we move in a year and a half, Jenny will either be staying here or moving somewhere else on her own. We're hoping that she'll stay here for her job, but she's not sure. Another reason I'm hoping she'll stay is that, if she's staying, we could also maybe work on her moving out before the summer of 2011 which would make the next year and a half a little easier as well.

Andrew's glasses

I forgot that I never posted pictures of Andrew with his glasses. There was a little snaffoo with the first pair, so we took him back and exchanged them. He only needs them for reading.

This is the Before picture (they weren't that purple when I picked them out, hence the exchanging them part of the story)

This is the After picture. (Just a nice metal color.) I like the shape better on the first pair, but this was as close as we could get. He doesn't have a problem with having to wear glasses, so that's nice. I still have to remind him to use them, but that will come with time.

Seeing Todd

Tonight I was able to Skype with Todd for the first time. It was so nice, especially for the kids, to seem him. Of course, it got a little hard to hear since they all wanted to talk to him at the same time. We have a big picture of Todd as my background on the computer so Lillian can see him. We've been trying to teach her that his is the face she needs to associate 'Dada' with. She's done really well. Everytime we say 'Dada' she looks at the computer to see his face and smiles. So when she finally got to see him, it was a little different for her, but she started smiling at him right away. I know it will probably still be a big change for her when she sees/meets him in person, but for right now she doesn't seem to be having a problem.
It ended up being a fairly short conversation since it was 4 am for him and he hadn't gone to bed yet, but had to be up in another 3 hrs. But we've been trying to do the webcam thing for at least the last 2 months, but he hasn't been able to for various reasons. Now we should be able to do it fairly regularly.
I love Todd so much. I'm very grateful for the service he is doing for our country. I know he is working hard and doing some important things to help in the war effort. And, eventually, he may even be able to tell me what that is. ;o) (He's keeping a list of all of the classified things that he's working on so he can check when they're made public so he can finally tell me some stuff he's done over there.) He's a great example to the children. I'm just so grateful for the technology that allows me to see him when he's 1/2 a world away. We definitely live in a bless time.

Guilty

I've noticed that when I feel down, I feel guilty. Right or wrong, I tend to think, 'I'm one of the strong ones, and people shouldn't have to worry about me when there are other people that need attention.' It always seems that it's the same few families/people that do everything, and I feel like if I, being one of those people, need help, than it's just making more work for the others. Of course, I have no problem helping someone else out, but I'd rather just wait out the bad times instead of having to bother someone else with my problems. I don't think it's fair, but nonetheless, it's the way it is. I think the strong ones need to be easier on theirselves, although, I doubt we will. Maybe we can try.

Grateful

With Thanksgiving upon us, I've been trying to focus more on the things that I am thankful for. I realize that, even though I have things that are tough to deal with sometimes, my problems are trivial compared to things others deal with. In just the last month, I've had friends who have had major financial struggles due to job loss, have had miscarriages, aren't able to have anymore or any children, had a loved one seriously injured, one who's friend is dying of cancer and another who's had a child die. What are my problems compared to those?
I have so much that I'm grateful for. Sometimes it's easy to just focus on the bad. So I want to share some of the things I'm grateful for. I'm grateful that:

-I have a husband who is truly my best friend; who loves me probably better then I deserve. :o)
-I've been able to have my 7 children and they are all, basically, healthy.
-We have a house to live in.
-We have enough food.
-We have vehicles to get where we need to go.
-Todd's job is fairly close to home, so we get to see him more frequently when he's here.
-We have family that love us.
-I have technology that allows me to easily stay connected with family and friends.
-I don't get stressed out easily, which is perfect for a military wife with 7 children. :o)
-We have some really good friends.
-Although Todd is gone, he is currently safe and is doing a lot of good work to help keep our country safe.
-I'm able to talk to or email Todd almost everyday.
-Todd has already finished 40% of his deployment.
-He has a good job that provides for us.
-We've been able to help those that need help.
-I have the luxury of being able to stay home with my children.
-I have modern conveinences that help me take care of my family.
-I have a husband who supports me in whatever I want to do.
-I have a husband who is worthy of the Priesthood which he holds and who is able to exercise that Priesthood to bless our family.
-I have access to the scriptures.
-Joseph Smith followed the Spirit's prompting, and prayed to God.
-That we have a modern Prophet who leads and guides the world.
-That I get to attend the temple.
-My family is sealed for Eternity.

I am very grateful that I have the trials I have because I know that they could be more difficult. I try to remember all that I have, and all that I've been blessed not to have, and I try to just be grateful. That doesn't always make my trials easy, but sometimes it makes them just a little less hard. I love all of you. I hope you, too, will take time to count your blessing, even amongst some of your hardest trials.

Good news!

I'll try to remember everything that went on today and in order so hopefully I won't forget anything. I got to Lillian's appointment, at the Spina Bifida clinic, at 1pm. When they took us in, the nurse checked her first (weight, height, etc.) and asked some questions and such. Then the Physical Therapist and Occupational Therapist came in to see her. They put a mat on the floor so we could have her moving around and such to see how she was doing physically. They checked her sitting, reflexes, that she moved/flexed her toes, lifted her head off the ground when on her stomach, grabbed for things, visually tracked, put pressure on legs when standing, if she could keep her balance/keep herself from falling over when they pushed her a little while in a sitting position. She wouldn't roll over though or rotate on her stomach. She wasn't too happy about most of it. For one of the happiest babies there is, I think she's already figuring out that she doesn't like Dr.s offices. She didn't smile for either of them, and cried a bit; especially when they were trying to push her off balance and on her stomach. But she's right where she's supposed to be physically. She has no delays. Which we already figured, but it's nice to hear. Then I met Dr. Dosa; she's really nice. She's one of the first Dr.s to really just sit down and answer questions and really explain stuff. She asked about family history, pregnancy, etc. She mentioned that, if we were to try and get pregnant again, I'd need to start on 10x the recommended daily allowance of folic acid for at least a month to 3 months before trying to get pregnant and continue up through at least the first month of the pregnancy to help reduce the chance of another baby with Spina Bifida. (Also, and this I'm just getting from the Spina Bifida magazine I was reading before going into the office, Lillian would have to do the same before trying to get pregnant. Anyone who's had a child with Spina Bifida, or someone who has it themselves are supposed to take the 10x the recommend amount. And that includes if the guy has Spina Bifida; the wife should still take the 10x the amount before trying to get pregnant to help lower the risk.) Anyway, back to Lillian. Dr. Dosa said that, again, nothing is connected to the Spinal Column. If she had surgery, it would be cosmetic to remove the fat somewhere down the line. She actually showed me the MRI, since I asked her how the bones were different then they were supposed to be, although, she couldn't get the CT scan for some reason, which would have shown the bones better. But the MRI showed, clearly, how nothing was connected to the spine. The problem is that the bones are a little deformed, so she wanted me to take her to see an Orthopedic surgeon. She said that since nothing is connected to the Spinal Column, we wouldn't have to worry about most of what usually goes along with Spina Bifida. She shouldn't have any problem with muscle control or incontinence. But she did order an ultrasound for her kidneys just to make sure, but she's expecting it to come back completely normal. She also checked Lillian's rectum to make sure that, when touched, it had the correct reflex, which shows she has control. And she was fine. The appointment lasted 2 hrs. So, I'll take her to Rome Hospital tomorrow to have the ultrasound done. The only thing she said that might be an issue, is that people with Spina Bifida are at a greater risk for Scoliosis. So, she called over to the Orthopedic surgeon's office to see if they had an appointment available. So after I left her office, I went to the Orthopedic. office down the road. When I got there, they weighed and measured her again, and then she saw the surgeon. She went over the MRI results and said that she looked good. But she couldn't get the CT either; she only had a report of the CT. But she asked more questions, checked her out, and agrees that she looks great. She also agreed that it didn't look like there would be any need for surgery. Even though the vertebrae isn't fully connected, it's such a small break, that there's really nothing to worry about. I asked her about the Scoliosis thing, and she said, with how she looks now, there's no reason to believe that she would have it down the road; her risk level wouldn't be much higher then average. She's as close to 'normal' as she could get with this. So by the time I finished the appointments, we'd been ther for over 3 hrs. So it was a long day.
But, Lillian will still be monitored by ALL of the Dr.s. So now, I have to call the Neurosurgeon and see when her next appointment is supposed to be, since the other Dr.s are willing to work with me and try to get all of my appointments on the same day to help condense my trips to Syracuse, but that will make for one long day. If I can't get them on the same day, I should at least be able to get the Spina Bifida clinic and Orthopedic appointments on the same day, because I know they see patients on the same days. So that will help a little. So in 6 months, give or take, she'll see the Neurosurgeon again and do another MRI, then she'll go to the Spina Bifida clinic and probably be checked by the Physical therapist and such, and then to the Orthopedic Surgeon where she will probably have an x-ray taken of her hips and such.
So, still more appointments, but I'm just happy to know that she's OK. In the blessings Todd gave her, he said that she'd be OK, but it's still nice to get confirmation.

Big day

Well, today was a big day. Todd and I woke up around 3 a.m. this morning so I could take him to the base. He still had to pick up the pistol he'd been issued and meet the guy who was going to drive him to the airport for his 6 a.m. flight. Yes, you saw that right, they had him on the airplane by 6 a.m.! He flew through Chicago to Cheyenne, Wyoming. From there he had to get a rental car and drive for another 3 hours. He'll be in Wyoming until the 27th. Then he'll drive the rental back to Cheyenne and fly out from there to Afghanistan. (Obviously it won't be a direct flight, but I'm just not sure of all the stops in between.) He'll be in Afghanistan until somewhere around the end of Feb. or beginning of Mar. We won't know for a while when his actual scheduled day to come home will be.

Later, I took Lillian to Syracuse for her MRI. We were supposed to be there by 10 a.m. for an 11 a.m. appointment. That way they'd have time to sedate her, do paperwork, vitals, etc. Well, they were running late so they didn't even get around to sedating her for the MRI until after we'd already been there almost 2 hours. Normally it wouldn't be a big problem except for the fact that she wasn't supposed to eat after 7 a.m, so she was getting pretty hungry. (But really, she still was amazing. They're just lucky they didn't have a really cranky baby on their hands.) They put the mask on her face to sedate her, then had to give her an IV and then had to put a tube down her mouth. About an hour and a half later she woke up and they came and got me so I could feed her. Everything went well except for at the end. They said she 'Bhronco spasmed' (not sure of spelling). Basically her throat started closing up as she was trying to wake up. So they ended up giving her a shot (basically) that someone with allergies would take. So now anytime she needs sedation, I have to inform people that she's had this problem before. Although they said that it wasn't an allergic reaction to the medicine, otherwise it would have happened at the beginning instead of the end. It's just something that happens sometimes. (That's comforting.)

Then on my way home, I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing (I know it was bad, but I was on the phone with a friend; but I had the speaker phone on at least), and I completely missed my exit and continued driving to Utica. Although, I didn't mind that part, it was a nice conversation, but it did put me getting home even later. :o)

But, the kids went swimming a little, some of the house got clean, we had a nice dinner, and I even got to talk to Todd a little. Now, if only my house would cool down . . .

Schedule

We've finally had our schedule finalized.

Tomorrow Lillian has her check up that she needs before getting her MRI. After Todd gets off work, we leave for vacation/family reunion. (He may get off by noon, we'll cross our fingers and see.) We'll be in Iowa from the 1st to the 3rd. Then we take off to Utah. We'll be there the 5th- 9th. We're leaving to head back to New York by noonish on the 9th since Todd has to be back for training. We'll get home on the 12th, he leaves on the 13th for Massachusetts until the 15th. He'll be home on the 16th, maybe 17th, and then leaves for Wyoming. (He'll spend about 2 weeks in training and then leave for Afghanistan from there.) Also on the 17th, I'll take Lillian to Syracuse for her MRI. Then later that month I have to go back to Syracuse for Andrew's x-rays for his back (hopefully he'll be cleared to do gym/recess next year). Then back to Syracuse in September (twice in the same week because neither Dr. will see patients on the same day the other does) for her cardiology appointment and then to see the neurosurgeons.

Todd will be gone for 6 months. So we're planning on him being back around the the beginning of March.

But on the bright side, starting in September, I'll have 5 of the kids in school all day, Sophie at school 1/2 day, and just Lillian at home. So it will give me a little more freedom to make Dr. appointments and such.

Lillian

We've been waiting for Lillian's next appointment. She had seen the Pediatric Surgeon and had a CT scan, but they wanted to refer her to a Neurosurgeon since they think she has Spina Bifida. We finally got a call on Wednesday that before we could have an appointment with the Neurosurgeon they wanted her to have an MRI. So Thursday we went to the clinic to have the MRI done. Well, if any of you know about MRIs, you know that you have to lay still in order for it to work. You also know that it makes a VERY loud noise. So as you can imagine, Lillian didn't even come close to not moving. She was doing regular happy baby moves until it started, and then freaked out screaming once it actually started making noise. (You'd think the Drs would have been able to foresee this since she's only 5 months old.) So now we're waiting for them to call us back on Monday or Tuesday to set up another MRI, this time with her sedated. Most likely they will need to do surgery, which will probably happen after Todd is deployed. But we'll wait to hear from the Dr.s to see exactly what they want to do. Hopefully we'll know soon. I feel bad because it seems like she's the one who's ended up with all of the medical problems. (She also has a heart murmur from a bi-cuspid valve --the same thing I have; but all of the other kids seem fine.)
Todd has given her blessings and feels that she will be ok, but still, it's not a fun position to be in.
She's such a cutie and is so happy and loving. All of her siblings absolutely adore her. We're so grateful that she's part of our family. We ask that your prayers be with her.

Deployment

Well, Todd got notice today that he will be deploying the end of August. There are a couple of things that are different then we previously thought. He will be deploying to Afghanistan instead of Iraq. Even though it's in Afghanistan, it will be a safer deployment than the one we first were expecting since he will be on the staff of the ranking General there. Not many JAGs get that opportunity, so it will also be nice for his career.
The timing completely throws off the schedule we had for going to my family reunion in August, but that's something I'll need to work out now. If I still go, it will be me and 7 children driving all the way to Utah. That would be hard enough without having to take 7 children to the bathroom everytime 1 person needs to go and having to stop everytime I need to feed Lillian. Plus the added money of needing to stop at more hotels now since I can't drive as far. Otherwise, I have to try and find someone who can drive out with me.
Of course, I've also thought about just not going, but all of the kids are excited and planning on seeing their cousins that they haven't seen for awhile. Grrr.

Renting

We just found out a little bit ago that our renters will be out by the 1st of August. This is a little scary as this will be our first time trying to find renters from a distance. (It was a little scary trying to find renters even when we were still in NJ, but we found some quickly, and since we already knew them, that helped quite a bit.)
When we joined the Air Force and moved to NJ, it was the height of the housing boom in 2006. Renting a place for a family our size cost as much as a mortgage. Plus, we were in a 1 bedroom temporary housing facility for 1 month and were told it would be another month before anything on base would open up for us. Thus, we bought. We knew in 2 or 3 years we would have to sell or rent. Of course now, we're at the bottom of the market. Yay. So the only way we'd break even by selling is if we do a 'for sale by owner'. So we're trying to do either; which ever happens first.
I pray that the Lord will help us. Even though we have a bit extra every month, we don't have enough to pay a mortgage and rent for more then a couple of months. And being the planner that I am, once I know that there is a change coming, I like to get everything worked out as much as possible. So this is going to drive me crazy until we hear from some people who are interested, since there really is nothing else I can do until then. Grumble grumble.
Oh well.
*Just thought I'd show a couple pictures of the house. I messed with the pictures a little and now some of them look a little squished, but you get the idea. The rooms are actually bigger then they look. :o)

Food storage

I've been a little obsessive about food storage lately. Actually, it started about 2 years ago when I had a friend who ground her own wheat to make all of the bread for her family. Up to that point I hadn't really thought too much about food storage. My mom had lots of wheat she kept wanting to give me, but since I didn't have a grinder, or really know what to do with wheat other then make flour, I kept telling her I didn't want it yet.

Well, when my friend showed me how simple it was, and how I could go from wheat to fresh bread is 90 minutes, I was hooked! I bought a grinder and, with my mom's next visit, I accepted as much wheat as she could fit in her car. I then started making all of our bread. But since all I had was wheat, that's all I did with food storage.

**And I just need to give a shout out to my mom who is amazing with the food storage she set aside for her children. She bought a year supply of wheat for each of her children. So I had my year supply of wheat instantly (which was very nice). But then she said that there were some others who didn't want theirs. So after checking to see who did/didn't want their wheat, she informed me (since I was the only one who seemed to really want it) that I now would have a 4 year supply of wheat! And that's calculated off of me making all of the bread for a family of my size. So that's a LOT of wheat. So everytime she visits, she brings out a little more. Still not sure where I'm going to stick it all, but bring it on. Anyway, back to my narrative. Thanks, Mom.**

So I now have a 4 year supply of wheat, but nothing else. But, thanks to some of you, I found some great food storage websites. Todd thinks I'm a little crazy because I get really excited when talking about food storage. I've been reading up on anything I can. I bought some jars and a pressure cooker so I can start canning this year. I'm (if I ever find time to start) planning on starting a garden as well. I've looked into Square Foot gardening. I love it! The problem for us is that, being military, we move around a lot. So we can't can too much since it needs to be used up before we move since they won't move liquids in glass containers. I wonder why? ;o) And any garden we plant, we can only use for a couple years. So it makes it a little hard to want to start, but I'm starting small.

We don't have a ton of extra room for food storage right now, but my next goal is to start building up some of our other items. I'm starting with a full 3 month supply. We're not too far from that already, so that should be easy. Then, I'm going to start getting other basics like powdered milk, eggs, oats, etc. and actually start using them in every day cooking. What a concept! **This is where the EVERYDAY FOOD STORAGE website is great. I love her ideas for using food storage.**

And the bonus? We've already been saving a bit of money on groceries. Our bread costs us next to nothing since the wheat was free. (but even if we bought our own, it would still save us money) We've been saving a bit of money for breakfast with the oatmeal. We would always get whatever cold cereal was the cheapest, but still we go through a lot of it, plus the milk. Now we use less milk, the oatmeal costs less and goes further, and the kids like it more anyway.

Wow. I told you I get excited talking about it. Who wants to read a post about food storage the size of this one? lol. Oh well.

So if anyone has any good ideas about food storage, feel free to share with me. :o)

It's been a while.

After almost a year since I first joined this thing, I'm finally back on. Hopefully this time it will take. ;o)

There has been a lot going on with our family since we moved to New York. Two of our children have been to the ER. Andrew fell out of a tree and fractured some vertebrae and had to wear a brace for a few months; Sophie decided to run with a pencil and poked a hole in her eyelid (I know, VERY close). Our daughter Lillian was born, and she's had a couple of medical problems that we've had to run to the Dr.s a lot for. And a month after Lillian was born, my mother-in-law moved in with us, Andrew was baptized, Lillian was blessed, I was called and set apart as a counselor in the Primary Presidency and my mom (while visiting us) got sick and had to go to the hospital. All in the same weekend!! After about 2 weeks here in the hospital, and then finishing treatments at my house, my mom was finally cleared to go home. Needless to say, with a 1 month old baby who had various Dr. appointments, my life was a LITTLE hectic. But now, things are pretty much normal.

Now we are getting ready for some summer activites. Todd took the boys on a Father/son campout the other weekend, which they all enjoyed. Nathaniel just turned 11. Todd is taking Nathaniel, William and Andrew to a Cub Scout day camp in the beginning of July. Some of the children are signed up for swimming lessons. Our family is headed out to Utah the beginning of August for a family reunion. We have to find new renters for our house in NJ starting in August. And sometime, either August or November, Todd will be deploying to Iraq. (I thought our life was slowing down.) :0)

That is a brief summary of our life this last 10 months, but since it's after midnight and we have church tomorrow, I will go to bed.