Ya learn something new everyday

I love friends. Friends are people who know you and love you anyway. I have been blessed to have a few awesome people in my life, many of whom have taught me something.

I've learned; breaking in to a barn is easier than you would think, driving a stick is easier when you have to because everyone else has had a bit too much fun at the pub, yellow is not my color, and time and distance mean little in real friendships. 

That is why I try to listen to my friends....the invaluable education! 

So when a very good friend of mine, who is also a nurse, suggested that I try essential oils with Audrey, I feel awful for not listening. At the peak, Audrey was on 14 different medications. Hardcore stuff like Phenobarbital for seizures, Ativan, Morphine, Valium....the list goes on. Fourteen. Let that sink in.....14 meds. She was less than 20 pounds and less than a year old. At least 5 of those medications were to counteract the side effects of the other at least 9. It became a vicious cycle and ultimately took their toll on her tiny body. 

I knew so much about Audrey. I would often be mistaken for a nurse and could go toe to toe with neurologists and most other specialists that attended our baby girl. I became a walking desktop pharmacology reference book for synthetic medication. I was behind modern medicine and put all my eggs in the prescription refill basket. 

I knew what drug was for what issue, how to administer, side effects, drug interactions, etc....but I had no idea how they worked. I feared viruses because I thought drugs can rarely, if ever, kill them. And if they do you have to be concerned about mutation and drug resistance. There is a reason they call it "practicing medicine." 

Then it all came down to a rash. A simple, painless rash that I fought in Emily's diaper area for over 6 months. Over the counter creams couldn't touch it, and it frustrated her pediatrician. He had prescribed over 6 different creams in 2 months. Each one required an office visit (read: $20 co-pay), the struggle of lugging a toddler into the office and waiting for hours only to be  sold given a different cream that never worked. God love him, he tried! It certainly wasn't for lack of caring. He was truly stumped. Finally, we ended up putting her on a strong antibiotic AND and anti fungal. Two different oral medications, both with a laundry list of side effects. But what choice did I have!? The rash was spreading despite my best efforts and Mommy had to win! 

Luckily, the medications worked. Which one, you ask? I have no clue since she was on 2 at the same time. I do know that the rash disappeared after about 4 days...only to return 3 weeks later! The side effects of the medication were not pleasant and I'll spare you the gory details. Let's just say my washing machine was constantly running that week. So did the medication help? Yes and no. Sure her rash was gone, but it took a toll on her body with no permanent fix. The next step was a referral to a dermatologist! Phone in hand, our doctor called. I'm glad now that I was too busy to ever set up that appointment!!

When the rash appeared again, we had just moved to another state. The hubby had a new job and was on a business trip for a week to Washington, D.C. I was ALONE with 5 kids; no sitter, no friends close by, alone. There was zero chance of me dragging all 5 kids into the doctor unless someone was bleeding. So I took a chance! Amazon came to the rescue!! I took a stab in the dark and went with the only information about essential oils I knew. Tea tree oil was antibacterial. If it was the antibiotic that fixed the rash, maybe tea tree oil could help. Prime 2-day shipping later and a balm arrived laced with tea tree oil, a.k.a. melaleuca. Within a 7 days the rash was gone! No upset tummy, no refusals to eat..not a word! She even ran every night to get her cream. I used it 3-4 times a day at diaper changes and.it.worked. No doctor. No pharmacy. No side effects. I was sold. 

Then my friend's words came back to me and I wished I would have listened. But I have learned! I have learned that drug manufacturers are trying to copy nature and harness the power of these amazing plants, adding chemicals and fillers and wining and dining doctors to push their drugs. Are all prescription and over-the-counter medications bad? No way! There is a great place for modern medicine in our society. But I have waited through enough drug commercials as they list their never-ending side effects and possible interactions to know there has to be a better way. And there is! 

I'm discovering new wonders each day. I want to share them with you....person to person, mom to mom, friend to friend. I want to help you heal your kids. To know we can help their bodies heal themselves and become healthier and stronger for it. 

This week I want to share a rock star link. On this site you can cross reference oils and ailments. Not every oil will work for every person, despite the same ailment. That is why several are listed and suggested ways to use them. Carve out some time looking at this site. The education is amazing! 

As always, share with friends and loved ones. I'll be blogging more on oils, Mommyhood and life so stay tuned. 

If you're screaming "me too, me too" at your screen right now, then you can go here to grab some of your very own. 

Ok.....I promise, promise promise I'm turning over a new leaf. It isn't that I have abandoned my blog. I haven't. Life happened.

We moved from South Carolina to Georgia, the hubby got a promotion (hence the move), babies have been screaming and learning how to cop an attitude, homeschooling has been done...it's been a lot.

But now we are settled and I'm back online. The horrific event of my beloved iMac crashing is fading to the background as I have a new laptop. Spiffy!

I'm planing lots of new blog posts, trying to educate myself of how this whole blogging thing goes and maximizing this space so that posts are easily accessible for you, the reader. There will be exciting new topics like how to fold laundry faster, cleaning and organizing tips, neat homeschool finds and much, much more. As always, I take requests! *insert cheesy lounge music here*

So stick around, become a follower and we will hopefully have a few laughs and improve this journey we call Motherhood.

Talk about a Hiatus!

My last blog was June 4, 2012!? Wow. So much has happened since then and I have missed this outlet and being able to share. As to an update on our daughter, Audrey, whom the last post was about.... Audrey recovered from her aspiration and many more details emerged in the months that followed. Audrey was left with severe Cerebral Palsy and other handicaps. It has come to light that she was actually without oxygen or under oxygenated for over an hour due to medical....well, I call it incompetence. (My blog, my thoughts, right?) Incompetence is a nice way to put it. The roller coaster ride has been exhausting. Sparing everyone the mind- boggling details of recurrent hospitalizations, Hospice and infection after infection, Audrey passed away April 19, 2013 in my arms. We are healing, and much of my future posts may refer to her and our family's journey and healing. So much has changed since the quads turned 1. We actually sleep now! Caed and Daniel are THE.BEST. big brothers ever. Seriously. Ever. My world would not function properly without their joy, love and help! Having so many younger siblings has really taught them so many lessons I'm not sure they would have otherwise grasped, or certainly grasped by the time they were 6 years old! But, they are the big life lessons; patience, understanding, compassion, service and celebrating the accomplishments of other just to name a few. I'm so proud of the little Godly men they are becoming. We have decided to home school this year. We home schooled the final few months that Audrey was with us, not knowing it was her final months and it was a stress nightmare. However, looking back I feel so blessed to have had that time for the boys to spend with Audrey. It really was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I wouldn't have changed a thing. However, I learned the most. I learned about patience, not allowing others ' comments to become more than suggestions for my life and the importance of today. Just today. I have become such a different person over the last 2 years, and most of that fruit bearing in the last 6 months. I see the world so differently, with less optimism....and I'm actually grieving that optimism. For now, I have a million things to do to this blog to get it in proper order. Please bear with me over the next few weeks/months. Upcoming blogs I have planned will be worth it, I promise! Thank you all!

On Friday, our daughter Audrey aspirated into her lungs during a reflux event. Her airway shut down and despite the heroic measures of her Daddy performing CPR, she was deprived of oxygen for approximately 15 minutes. She is currently on life support in Greenville, South Carolina and is not doing well.

We have started a Facebook page to keep everyone posted as updates come. If you would like to be updated there, Praying For Audrey is the group page. Feel free to add friends, leave messages and share the link. We would love any prayers we can get right now.

We have been asked by friends and family who are not local if they can help financially since they are unable to help with meals and childcare for our other 5 minis. I have created a link to do that. We are 99% sure that all medical costs will be covered by our insurance, but we remember what gas expenses were to travel 1 hour each way with current gas prices and having to take all meals at the hospital cafeteria. If you feel lead, here is how to donate.

We love you all and can't thank the multitude of people who are praying, have brought a meal and just come to feed and rock a baby. Thank you just doesn't seem like enough.

A Few Changes...

Oh beloved readers....how I have missed blogging. I've missed so much this past year (YEAR!??! WOW...major blogging fail) Blogging is supposed to  be a way for me to vent, keep record of thought, muse, etc. I sure would have this past year, but I was too busy. Busy doing what you say?


Having QUADS. That's right. Four new people came into this world through my body at the same time. If the thought alone is daunting, try joining us for the 4am feeding.

We welcomed; (<----- notice the semicolon because I am about to make a list....gah!) James Gabriel, Audrey Carolyn, Braden Andrew and Emily Elizabeth. They were born at 30w4d and are all home now, happy & healthy. But before you all skim this post for answers to burning questions, I'll just answer them now and address common comments that we receive on a daily basis.

1. We did not "put back" any eggs. We did not conceive using IVF. It was the good ole fashioned way with the help of a few simple drugs.

2. No one is identical.

3. Yes, I do have my hands full.

4. Shooting ourselves never came up when we found out there were 4.

5. My reaction was shock. Who goes in thinking there will be 4!?!?

6. We will rear  them as you would any other child...that's what we are "going to do with them all".

7. I don't care how expensive college is when they are ready. No one paid for our college education. We earned it with scholarships and military service so it actually won't cost me a dime.

8. Yes, my grocery bill is going to go up.



I honestly think that the general population means well, but it's just that they have no filter from their brains to their mouth. Especially the medical employee who gasped and said "Oh God!" with the most disgusting tone you would have thought it was one child with four heads. All in all people have been very supportive. I spent 8 weeks living at Greenville Memorial Hospital (to be fed and monitored as I had ZERO medical issues! I never even went on bed rest!) and the quads spent between 6-8 more weeks. The total bill for all 5 of us ran over $1.3 million dollars. I'll never complain about insurance premiums again!

So from here on out I will blog as I can, hope to help other moms of higher order multiples (HOM) since I feel that as a twin who has twins and quads I'm becoming a bit of a specialist on multiples, and generally try to find the humor in my life. There is entirely too much crying as it is now....and the babies are loud too.

Say what?!

Have you ever said something so stupid that halfway through the words spilling from your mouth you actually think to yourself, "That has to be the dumbest thing you have ever said!"? I have, and it's a humbling experience.

This whole weekend (it's Sunday afternoon now) I have been without internet service or it has been at best unreliable. Charter is infuriating, but they require a whole other blog themselves. My Scentsy business that I handle from my home office requires internet to place my customer's orders, check and respond to emails, etc. This happened to be a weekend where I needed to place a large order, and several other tasks online. Without service, I was becoming more and more distraught by the hour. I blame part of it on my withdrawal from Facebook, but again...a separate post. Service was up briefly yesterday morning, enough for me to key in and all but hit the SUBMIT button. Then, the connection is lost. *sigh* After banging my head on my desk for a few minutes, I recovered, reminding myself that nothing would be shipped til Monday anyway. So I spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies and playing with the boys.

Fast forward to bedtime. We had arrived home from church choir practice and GLORY! I had internet! The hubby bathed the boys and read to them while I finished my work. He told them I would be up to sing as soon as I was done. It hadn't been 5 minutes before Candy Man decided that I wasn't coming fast enough and a shrill scream and tears would hasten my appearance. It worked, but my mood was anything other than sing-songy when I arrived. I yelled, Hubby yelled and Candy Man received a stern lecture about not using those measures to beckon me and I was busy. Then it happened. The most asinine words ever uttered spilled from my mouth...

"I need to send these emails and now I probably don't have an internet connection!"

Seriously. His response only drove the nail into my heart further..."I just wanted you to sing to me because I love you." he said through his tears. Yes, do not fret readers....my head hung in shame for the rest of the night. Had he asked for a pony in that moment my only response would have been, "What color?!"

It was a blessing to me though to realize how out of whack our priorities can be during the day. We rationalize that work is important because it helps to feed and clothe them. That cleaning is important to maintain a home with no germs, to keep them happy and healthy. Although these reasons do have some merit, there is a fine line between "Mommy, will you color with us?" and being in the middle of cooking dinner, as opposed to "Mommy, will you color with us?" and making an excuse why you can't so you can catch up on more Facebook time.

As mothers who chose to work at home it's easy for us to feel that we spend 24/7 with our children, but how much of your day is time with our children?

My animated reaction...

I fondly remember cartoon shorts before the feature movie when I was a girl. It was 1980, so let's not get too nostalgic and start referring to the '80s as "the good ole days, but nevertheless, I remember fondly. My parents and grandparent would often reminisce about a Mickey Mouse short or news features. After yesterday, I can't say that my children will remember that fondly.

It was one of our family's famous Date Days. One parent takes a child and goes out for uninterrupted quality time. I decided to take Daniel to "the big movies" to see Mr. Popper's Penguins." The film itself wasn't worth the $14 I spent on tickets, but this blog isn't about Mr. Popper's Penguins. It's about the cartoon before Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Picture it. I'm sitting in a theater with my 4-year-old while he stares at the big screen in amazement and wonder on his way to a massive sugar high with the tip of his nose glistening ever so with the sheen of popcorn butter. Then it happens. The lights dim and a cartoon short begins with the words, "Isn't this great?" "Yeah, makes me sad that I ever have to leave to poop again."

WHAT!?!?!? I sit horrified trying to decide how to handle this. The crude, violent short continued and I wavered between marching the both of us out of the theater and demanding my money back or sitting quietly and hoping that if I didn't make too big of a deal out of it that he may never remember it. Then, they announcer said that I could find this cartoon during Prime Time on the Cartoon Network. Ah ha! Right there is the disqualifications for it to be shown during a children's movie. NOTHING on the Cartoon Network is acceptable in my house, let alone during or after 8:00pm.

But my outrage doesn't lay with just this one short. Oh no...it is the trend of awful mini scripts written and produced for theaters. Just because it's animated doesn't make it OK! Television and movie producers...along with much of the country...have strayed from what is decent and appropriate. And I'm not just saying that in a buttoned up manner of a God-fearing, Southern mother. In the first two minutes of America's Got Talent last night, Nick Cannon said "damn". When did 'damn' stop becoming a 4-letter word? I remember getting a hand across my mouth if I ever said it way back when. Some programming is a given; Family Guy, The Simpsons, La Femme Nikita...naturally those are not appropriate for a 4-year-old. But on what planet should I pay $14 and be subject to unedited content that I am not informed of or is within the rating guidelines that have been set forth?!

From now on I'll stick with Netflix.