Pancake Breakfast

I've been sick, for like 2 weeks, on and off.

I barely survived yesterday!!! That may be an exaggeration. Maybe.

TODAY, I am feeling so much better, with tons of energy. I'm taking advantage of that energy too.

But first: pancakes. From a box, because I am awesome like that (I did add a little almond extract, lemon extract, and a few drops of vanilla stevia), topped with real maple syrup.

Enjoy. I know the kids and I sure did.

xoxo,
Jenni

Small Tasks

Oh, what a life I live.

I feel like ever since I moved to Ohio, I have gotten sick every other week. Definitely an exaggeration, but it is what it is.

For a few hours every day these past few days, I have had an almost debilitating headache. It could be caffeine withdrawal. Eh. Hopefully it isn't another stinking sinus infection.

ALSO, and oh my, every time I get ahead with cleaning/organizing in one room, I turn around and it's trashed again. I had Carson help me the last time I tackled his room. I most definitely believe that kids should learn to clean and organize at a young age. I gave him the task of first putting his Legos in their place, then putting the shoes in the basket. The kids can handle small tasks, easy things that if done in small steps results in a clean room!

My brand rep search is almost to an end. I already have chosen two kids, but it's so hard. I want all the kids to feel special.

AND, lastly, I have been doing so many DIY crafts. I'd like to post them. You know how that goes...

Birthday Party & Bad Chinese

We had a pretty fun Labor Day weekend. We went to a Family Movie Night on Friday at the Y, and that was horrible, the kids were way too rowdy, Tim took too long working out and didn't help me (and also made me miss any good time to work out), and we started getting mean looks from people around us. Not fun.

Saturday we wanted to get some Christmas shopping done, eat a meal, then go on a date but we didn't have a sitter. So we went to the Y, put the kids in child-watch and worked out together and with Kayt. Then went shopping and got a few presents. We met up with Kayt and Larry and all our kids to eat at T.G.I.F.

I sent Tim to the movies with his brother. I think they saw the Wolverine movie and I'm pretty sure they liked it.

Sunday was pretty uneventful. Church is always scary when Tim isn't there. I sent Sehara to sit with some friends where she took notes and behaved very well. Madeline had to go sit (she slept) with Joyce and Gail because I had to take Carson out and explain our rules for him about 20 times! LOL, CRAZY!!!

Sunday night we found a chinese place and thought it was great food, since we had been looking for a place to get our go-to Chinese from. Whenever we got it, which wouldn't be often.

For Labor Day, we drove down to Kentucky for Logan's 3rd birthday party. He had a super hero themed party and was too busy for my little camera to capture him.

Pops

Home is where your mom is!

Incredible Carson

Monday night ended up being painful. I was up all night in the bathroom, I'll spare you the details. I ate leftover Chinese and that's what came back up. So gross. Then, because I didn't get any sleep, when I did feel better come morning, I was too tired to function, especially because of the 4 hours of driving. Now Sehara has gotten sick from eating it (Tim did too, but he doesn't get sick like everyone else so it's hard to know when he is, and if it's something we should look out for the rest of us). 

I obviously didn't get to go to Ladie's Class yesterday, that would have been too much. But I felt so great by the end of the day that I did join Tim for his nightly workout, then I went swimming and sat in the sauna! So relaxing.

Maybe It Was A Cold

Maybe it was a cold!  I am starting to believe that Carson is not only teething, but he has a little cold, too! So sorry to all the friends we went around. :/  He's over the worst part of it and has been almost back to normal today! :)

I have it now.  This is stupid, why do I have to get a cold? I can't breathe, especially at night, I have a huge headache and the list goes on.

That's enough nasty business... I went to Olive Garden to eat lunch with my Sister-in-law, Amanda today.  I got that endless soup and salad. I filled up on salad and could only eat half a bowl of minestrone.  The salad alone it worth it!  I kid you not.  It must have msg in it because I'm addicted.

I also stopped by the dollar tree to get some things for Carson's birthday party.  I ran into a problem  while there: I only have had 4 people R.S.V.P. and none of them are children (unless I'm forgetting someone).  I have some pretty neat party favors in mind but I don't plan on over-buying things and going through the hassle of returning them afterwards. No way!

But, get this...they have the COOLEST wrapping paper. Oh, I lerv it! It's that brown paper bag material, and there is a lot if it to boot for $1.  Heck to the yes.  I love wrapping paper, I do.  I thoroughly enjoy picking out the prettiest paper and curling ribbons and bows to match!  If you have ever gotten a wrapped gift from me (in the past few years) you should know!  I have big plans this year with twine and brown paper. Big plans!

Oh, and remember how I said S was really involved with 4th grade? Well, this remains to be true...  She stepped off the bus today and asked me what I thought about her running for class president.  I told her if that is what she wants to do, then, great!  I can't wait to see if this results in anything or not.

Being Depressed & Sick

I have heard a lot of wish-wash about people not thinking the brain and body are connected, as in being emotionally distressed and that affecting a body's physical response isn't true.

That's fine, because that's their opinion.  I've heard what I would call "smart people" say this to me. Needless to say, after I hear this come from a person's mouth, I no longer think of them as a resourcefully smart person. I think of them as someone who likes to talk and happens to sound smart when, in fact, they aren't.

Sure, factual information still comes from them time-to-time, but I'll always double check that info. They invalidate themselves to me.

Here is how I personally know:
I have a probably very common positive feedback loop (derh, but maybe it's a negative feedback loop??) where when one thing alters in your body, your brain sends out signals to fix it, but ends up causing it to get worse, blah blah. It's biology so I'm not sure I'm describing it correctly. No matter. It all leads to Homeostasis anyway.  Being in labor is an example of a positive feedback loop that ends nicely, you know, with a baby.

I have been on antibiotics for the past 8 days for these two huge massive(redundant) pimples I have that wouldn't pop (and I thought they could be MRSA, but they weren't, but they sucked so I had to get them looked at) and I've noticed the past 4 or 5 days I have been getting these overwhelming headaches.

Then I started noticing I'd get the headaches an hour or two after I took the antibiotics (not sure what that means) and then it got to where I couldn't move my eyeballs without pain (we have 6 muscles around our eyes to look in different directions- attached to them). Obviously, something was happening to make those muscles sore.

I started getting sleepier and sleepier and sadder and more sad. A few things happened that helped along with that sadness, but I'll have to write another post on those. Before I know it (this is Wednesday night) I feel so depressed that I can't help but to picture every possible way I wish I could die that wasn't suicidal so I can still go to heaven.

It's that bad.  Even Carol from church was asking me if I was alright.  What am I going to say?

About 10 p.m., I'm in such a funk that I just laid in bed and stared at the t.v.  Carson got hungry so I fed him and we both fell asleep.

You know  how this goes... I wake up feeling disgusting. It just escalates more and, oops, I forgot to take my antibiotics. So I do, then in another hour I wake up and it's nasty. I can't move, took my temperature...100.5. It literally causes severe pain to more my eyes and I can't sleep. My lower back is killing me, I'm freezing and burning up at the same time.

I go all day like this.  I think to myself that if I am indeed sick, I most certainly do not need to add to my pain with these medications so I stop the antibiotics two days short. Whatever, I have always forgotten the last two days. If my pimples don't go away completely, I'll call them George and Berdine and give them a place to live.

I feel better as the day goes on, my temperature gets higher for a while, levels out, and now it's a little below normal.  I rarely get a fever.

Around 12/1 a.m., I'm laying in bed and my head is like *ding-ding*. No wonder I was depressed and I got sick.  Well, mostly the sick part. It's been so long since I've really been sick-sick as opposed to 12/24-hour bugs. When I get really depressed/sad about something I always get so sick. I have been pregnant and postpartum for the past forever so I have forgotten to listen to my body.  Being Depressed and Sick go hand in hand for me.

Remember, the chemicals in our bodies during pregnancy are very different than when we aren't pregnant, so while something  makes sense before or after, it may not be true during pregnancy.

I'm sure being depressed goes together for a lot of other people as well. It's what our body has to sometimes do. Well, I know for people who experience true chronic depression and anxiety like me, it does. Maybe I'm wrong, but I sure don't like to feel alone in this world.

There is a flip side as well, but I don't need to go into ten shortened paragraphs rant for that in this post.

I'm just trying to draw the picture that there is a mind-body or brain and body connection (but really it's kind of like a behavioral  thing) and it's not rocket science, it's actually biology, or physiology, or immunology.  There are studies that show you can "think yourself well", whether it be through a placebo or through purposeful psychoneuroimmunology. Say that 10 times fast, then google it.

Anyway, my point is that being depressed is a huge sign that I'm getting sick, but it's more complicated than that because I am always depressed, just sometimes sad. SO, I guess, being sad is a huge sign that I am getting sick.  When I'm not on my beloved medicine, like right now, I really can't decipher those times. Makes me think I need to pay more attention to my body.

As for those antibiotics, I don't know what happened. I've never had that problem and I know that it wasn't a coincidence. Maybe my body couldn't handle those few things at once?

I'm curious to hear others thoughts on this.

I've Been Sick I Tell Ya, SICK.

And I am sick of being sick.
I have been laid up in bed for TWO days. Two of them. This is horrible. Started Friday, 3 a.m., with diarrhea. Yes, the lovely runs have come to get me again. That didn't go away for a few hours. My tailbone started getting more sore and sore until I just couldn't move anymore...except to the bathroom because there is no way this girl is pooping herself. It's bad enough that I pee myself more and more.  We blame this on having a baby. "We" as in the angry me and the understanding me.

Turns out that I really don't feel good. I got up a few times during the day so I wouldn't feel isolated. I started to feel better that night. The diarrhea had subsided, my belly felt better, my tailbone wasn't too bad, so I cooked a little something something that reminds me of Papaleno's in Berea, and waited for Tim's arrival from work.

This morning, things took a turn for the worse. Diarrhea was full scale X's a kerbillion back, I literally couldn't move to get out of bed to do my business. Except, well, like I said, this girl ain't poopin herself so I was able to miraculously maneuver myself around Tim and Carson and to the bathroom.  I mean, this is phenomenal ish! It's a masterpiece of poops. Every 2-3 minutes I was back in the bathroom having my diarrhea. I still, to this moment, wonder where all that came from.  I literally lost 5 lbs in 2 hours.  FIVE POUNDS, Y'ALL.  Of course, I never complain when I have diarrhea because I would rather have diarrhea any day than be constipated. This is true.

I would like to add that on my list of things to never mix with each other, #2 is diarrhea with an extremely sore tailbone (and randomly, #3 is sweet pickles and dill pickles in a jar, together, gross, don't do it, ever!).

Back to my diarrhea... Well, I lost my appetite mostly, my will to drink anything, and I felt nauseous quite frequently.  Thank God that Tim was off work today. I wouldn't have been able to be anything worthwhile if he didn't pick up the slack. I did manage to gulp down a HUGE bottle of water and a Diet Dr. Pepper, take some vitamins, and an iron pill (because you know those things stop you up) along with a few Tylenol (didn't do squat) and some ibuprofen. That worked wonders.  I ate a little too, because hungry and nauseous don't mix well either. My mouth got so dry today, yesterday, last night. Whenever it was. It doesn't even matter. All the while I am trying to FIGURE OUT WHAT DAY IT IS. Seriously feels like a Sunday coming up today. But I think today is Saturday.

But, someone tell me why at 1 a.m., I'm starting to feel pretty good. Like I could go jog. But I won't do that, have you looked outside lately? I'm not into pain.  Well, and my belly starts hurting when I think about doing that.

I think I have been poisoned. If I could imagine what food poisoning feels like, this would be it. Besides the tailbone, that's been coming a while.

It's been a while!

Well!  Heller there! Haven't been here in a while.
It's nice to get a break from things. Not that I work hard at my blog to get a break....
Sehara was Sharpay for Halloween and Carson was a lion. We had fun and did some pumpkin carving, a harvest cookout and trick or treating. Sehara got a ton of candy for me!  I mean, herself.  She doesn't need all of that, and the weirdest thing is Tim is guarding her candy from me.  Why is he doing this?!!  Probably eating it all when I go to sleep.
We have a PTC at Sehara's school tomorrow.  I almost dread it!  She has gotten in more trouble than ever lately.  I know her teacher is just going to lay into that!  AND I know sehara isn't telling me the WHOLE truth about these situations.
Carson is a sweet little boy!  He is getting so chubby.  I just love it!  He has been smiling so big for a few weeks now. :) He also snorts like the little piggy he is when he gets upset.
And I think I am sick. My throat is killing me.  I hope I don't have strep, but I have a bad feeling.  Or it could be a sinus infection?!

Once again, I seem to start writing posts and I don't publish them.  I guess this one was kind of pointless anyway.  I feel better!  It's Friday now.  I wrote all that stuff Tuesday or Wednesday.  Tim and I had a parent teacher conference at Sehara's school last night.  She said S is doing great and has A's in all areas except reading.  She said S is a little behind there, but had a B, which is unusual.  The only thing negative she had to say was about S's behavior.  She's very chatty and seeks attention.  We have to work at this at home because I don't want her to be "that kid" and I really want her to get as much out of her school as she can, positively.

I just found out that I get to go to Kentucky today!!! WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO.  Gotta pack, chat at you lata!

Just the worst...

Okay, If you don't appreciate my bowel movements, don't read this. You'll be scarred for life.  But, then you'll also miss the funniest  post I've probably ever written.

I'm going to take a shortcut here.  This is a message I wrote to my friend explaining the situation (yes, I tell my amigos all about my poopies):

omg, I can't even text this, bc it'll hurt my fingers! I just had the WORST mommy moment EVER. (lol, seriously). So, here I am sitting on the bed with Carson and I feel that spikey caterpillar feeling in my belly, like I'm going to have raunchy gas or the worst blowout ever. I hold my breath and wait for it to pass. It passes, then I immediately feel the blow out about to happen. Like, I better run. RUN, I tell you. WELL, right at that moment, Carson decides to choke. Wonderful, right? Naturally, I grab him and run for the toilet. I don't even know how I got my pants down in time. SEriously, I don't remember. I'm banging on his back and crapping at the same time. Then, get this, he's hungry. And my butt is still exploding. So, I pull up my shirt and put my booby in his mouth. He's making these nasty faces the whole time and all I could say was "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" bc you know that was grossest thing he's ever smelled. I get done, and Tim's still not home from getting Sehara, so I'm all like, what do I do? Do I put him on the floor to wipe or do I wait. I figured I had done enough damage, so I waited. Ugh. UGH. HORRIBLE. I've probably traumatized him from the toilet/potty training. Good thing their memory is similar to those of goldfish! 

 

Anyway, you can judge me, because how horrible am I?!?!  Just a bad experience.   The worst part is that I know my poor baby will have some serious cramps and blow outs himself and that's sad to think about.  Because it's all my fault, because I've eaten something that my body hates, and so will his.

Burn Baby Burn

This past Saturday, whilst in Louisville/LaGrange area, my little family accompanied my side of the tree to a pool party.  It was put on my a friend of my dad's.  They ride dirtbikes together.  That's a manly thing to do.  I guess.

Anyway, the pool was a pretty big above ground 4-foot deep pool.  You know the kind...you can't sit on the rail because it will bend.  It was so nice having access to an outdoor pool.  We all got there and jumped right in.  Well, I was pushed in.  I opened my eyes under water and experienced a horrible burning sensation.  The water didn't taste good, either.  I only stayed in for a few more minutes, I got one of "those feelings", and exited with my sister.  Everyone else stayed in.  *Evil laugh*  Not really.

The next issue: my wee little 13 yr old brother got out and very quietly told my sister and I (and he'll kill me for this if he ever reads it) that his penis hurt.   ERRMM  Oh dear.  Oh-KAY, try not to show how awkward that was.  I went right into the billion question mode: "Does it burn, does it sting, is it red, is it swollen, did you pee, did it hurt"  blah blah.  I encouraged him to tell the parents, that it could be a UTI, then realized it's probably a chemical burn (didn't realize this until later on that day).  Poor boy.  He was so embarrassed about it.

Next event:  my daughter and niece both got out with burning eyes.  Okey dokie.  Don't open your eyes under the water.  An hour or two later I made her get out.  Her eyes and all around were so red, like her cheek bones had been sunburned.

Final: My husband's eyes also looked like they had been sunburned.

Sunday morning!  Both Sehara's eyes and Lexi's eyes were bruised.  BRUISED!  Like, purple (black eyes) and they hurt to the touch.  So was Tim's.  Brother's manhood was feeling A-OK.  He could walk again.  It was still red though.  Here's the kicker:  both Sehara and Tim had HUGE rashes.  Tim's were in his inner thighs (and are still there) where they rub together.  He's so sensitive there because of that.  Sehara's was where (and still is) her bathing suit rubbed her skin.  It's halter top style, so around the back of her neck down to her armpits, like so:

When I got there and I played in the pool and realized it was super chlorinated, I thought, you know I'd rather there be too many chemicals in here to keep it safe than to swim in dirty water.  I'm not so sure now.  I don't like my loved ones having these marks on their bodies.  Painful marks, mind you.  The only good thing about it was it stopped the peeling on my brother's arm (probably because it ate a layer of his skin).  I am so thankful that I got out of that pool after a few minutes.  I don't even want to imagine what it could have done to my unborn.

28 Week Baby Bump

28 Weeks 1 day

Amanda, Me, Sehara

BARE BELLY!! 28 Wks, 1 Day

Hello Third Trimester!!  It's so great to meet you, I've waited quite a long time for you to come along. :)
I think I have "popped".  Haha, I almost typed "poop"!! Well, I did type it, then deleted it.

So, let us get the complaining out of the way:  Horrible back pain, enough to make me want to stay home from church so I don't have to sit in the pews (ouch).  Diarrhea, but that's always... just worse now.  My pelvis feels sore to the touch, you know, when I lean on a counter.  I guess that's my pubic symphysis. Erm, this little boy is all up in my ribs and even moves my bra!!  Sometimes it's uncomfortable, sometimes it's the best thing EVER!!  I'm bumping into walls and doors a lot more often, and into people.  It happens.  I can no longer get to sleep within a reasonable amount of time.  It literally takes a few hours each night, making this RLS horrible, just horrible.  Oh, and a miniscule thing: my clothes are starting to not fit.

I'm trying to include Sehara with welcoming this baby, so I've been calling him "her baby", "her brother" and putting her hands on my belly when he moves.  She loves it.  She tries to guess what body part she's feeling and she tries to guess his length and stuff.  She'll ask me for confirmation of the body part, and I just tell her that I don't know.  Besides elbows and knees I am not even going to try and guess.  I'll be wrong... there's no way to really know in my opinion.

Oh, there's my bare belly!!  Yes, those are skin tinted stretch marks you see along with a birth mark.  Those marks are from Sehara, I haven't gotten any news ones from this boy.  I do wonder if it's going to happen but I just don't know because my skin is stretchy enough now.  I don't doubt it will happen, I actually think there is a huge possibility I may get more.  I'm married so it doesn't matter.  If he does not like it then he can pay to get them removed.  I won't object. ;)

Sickness

My mom took Sehara to the beach for spring break and just in time, too.  A day after she's gone I started feeling a tickle in my throat and for me that means Strep Throat -8 out of 10 times.  That night was horrible.  All night I kept waking up because my throat was on fire and I must swallow when I sleep because that was the worst feeling EVER...and I had to work the next day.  Great. 
So, Thursday Tim wakes me up to take him to work and ugh... I felt like crap.  A little later I had to go in work as well.  I got there and they took one look at me and basically told me to leave and go to the doctor.  I went home and called the doctor, and they got me in.  Turns out, being pregnant I can't do much except lay down, take Tylenol and drink buckets of water if it's a virus.  The strep test came back negative but they sent if off to the lab to be 100% sure.  My doctor told me to stay in bed for two days.  At this point, my throat feels almost fine so I know it's not strep; which means it's the virus. {insert great news-- I still weigh in at 124/125 lbs, even though I look 130-135!!!}
I don't know how I made it to Richmond yesterday and I definitely don't know how I made it back to Berea, but as soon as I picked Timothy up I was done.  I couldn't even walk by myself.  The worst part was getting hungry because I know that if I don't eat when I'm hungry the chances of me throwing up increase significantly. 
So the night passes and I wake up with no sore throat and my face felt fine (it hurt like crazy from pressure) but the only problem was my head and now my husband is sick.  I can't sit up without my head spinning, can barely roll over.  When Tim gets sick, he just gets a little sore throat and a huge headache, even when he had the swine a few years back.  That was at 8:00 a.m., and now, at 4:00 p.m., we are to the point where we can sit up. :) Seems it is getting better.  I have really strayed from taking any medication since I found out we were expecting, but the Tylenol was a must today.  My OB/GYN actually said "no" to it during the first trimester, but we're in the clear now.
Anyway I keep spacing out and I'm getting incredibly hungry again so... until next time.