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Archive for the ‘Gratituesday’ Category

… and a little gratitude will definitely help!

The last week or two has been a little “up and down” around here.  You know, roller coaster time.  Lots of whining and fussing and foot stamping.  Scowls and sighs… tears and pouts.  Drama… and a little more drama… and then a little MORE!

Yeah, and the kids have been acting out some too…

(Have y’all heard this before?  Probably so…)

Yes, I’ll admit it - I’ve had a rough couple of weeks, in my private “non-digi-scrap-bloggy” part of life (otherwise known as being MAMA to three little ones).  And while I exaggerated (just a bit) in the paragraph above, there have been too many moments that I haven’t been proud of my attitude.

There are lots of “reasons” why I’ve been “under the weather” as a Mama lately…

…a teething, rather fussy, baby girl who insists on climbing EVERYTHING… ALL THE TIME… EVERY DAY… (and who thinks she’s NOT much of a baby anymore…hmm… she’s kinda NOT…sigh).

…a little guy with a cold, who has not only been sick and ended up in the ER (for like the SIXTH TIME) with croup, but who has also decided that using the bathroom is for other people… NOT for HIM…

…a little bit BIGGER boy who has also had a cold, and who missed three days of school last week, before going back on Thursday in time for his Halloween party, only to have Friday off (Happy Nevada Day, a few days late!).  Yes, that’s right… big brother went to school ONE day last week… and he still has a cold this week…

…and so many other small petty insignificant things that when added up mean not that much, but that managed to get under my skin anyway…

Oh, who am I kidding - you can read all that above and know that most of the problem lies solely in one place, and that’s in this Mama’s head and heart. (Ok, that’s two places, but you know what I mean).

I’ve purposefully made choices to let things GET to me.  I’ve chosen NOT to pray when I needed to.  I’ve stresssed over things that meant NOTHING in the big picture of life.  I’ve become annoyed when other people didn’t do things they way *I* wanted them to do them.  I’ve stayed up too late, and grumbled when I got up early…

I really want to blame it ALL on hormones… and the kids and their colds… and my arthritis (sigh, that sounds like I’m a LOT older than 36, doesn’t it?).

But I can’t truly blame it on those things, and so I won’t.

I had a moment on Sunday last week, when I was getting ready for church.  My baby girl was standing beside me (as she almost always is - my little shadow, we call her).  I was blow drying my hair, and I looked down at her, looking up at me.  She had a sweet look on her face - I’d call it adoration if that didn’t sound arrogant to say.  She just looked up at me… and I looked down at her… and I started crying. For some reason the look on her face, and the SMACK upside the head that it gave me (about how I’ve been feeling and acting lately) just made me lose it.  I realized a few things in those moments, while she wondered what was suddenly wrong with Mama.

You know what?  My kids don’t care if I look good or feel good or dress good (yes, bad grammar, but I was goin’ for flow there).  They don’t even care if I SMELL good, although they are happy to point out when I DON’T!  (They boys especially find that fun, for some strange reason).

They just want me to BE there.  To HUG them.  To KISS them.  To LOVE on them.  To read a book, to pay attention, to clap for their songs and dances and jokes.  To be interested in what they are saying and doing and thinking.

They DON’T want a Mama who is distracted.  Or a mama who is reading email more than she is reading books to them.  Or a mama who is so intent on following a new recipe that she fails to hear how much they want to be a part of the adventure in the kitchen.  Or a mama who is too tired to do simple projects, play simple games, or even enjoy simple laughter.

I mean, really… look at these faces… who wouldn’t want to be hangin’ out having fun with THESE little folks??

So… I am choosing today to want what they want.  I want to be HAPPY today. I want to be THANKFUL for my beautiful, amazing, talented, loving children.  I choose to be GRATEFUL for my husband who puts up with me, even when I’m rebellious and annoying and grumpy.  I desire to be THRILLED to have a husband and a family to care for, even when they all drive me nuts. I want to be IN THE MOMENT with my kids (all three of them, ALL day long, because yes.. Samuel has ANOTHER day off from school).  I want to hug them, kiss them, cuddle them, tickle them… and did I say it already? Be HAPPY with them!

And I wish the same for you… and yours!

Do you have something that you are choosing to be grateful for today?  If so, why not blog about it and then click on over to Laura’s blog and leave a link in the Gratituesday Mr Linky.  We could all use a little more latitude in our attitude, and a little gratitude will definitely go a LONG way!

(Plus it’s Laura’s Website-aversary, and there are a TON of fun things going on over there, and you’ll definitely want to be a part of it all!)

First, buckle up folks - it’s going to be a long post today!

Second, welcome to all the new visitors to DigiScrapChat! I’m so glad you found your way here, and if you came looking for grab bag reveals, there WILL be more, I promise.

Third, today is Tuesday, which means it’s Gratituesday time. My best friend Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers has a weekly “blog carnival” centered around gratitude and sharing what we are thankful for. I’ll be honest and say that gratitude is lacking in my life right now - not that I don’t have PLENTY of things to be thankful for - I’m just struggling a little bit with the actual BEING thankful. So, as a start, I’m going to be thankful for Laura and the weekly challenge/reminder to share gratitude.

But, today’s post is really all about the peanuts. I need to introduce you to my daughter first, because this post is about her too. So, here she is a few months ago on her first birthday. (Brag book pages courtesy of Kay Miller and Mary Fran of Nitwit Collections, the Happily Ever After kit/brag book quick pages).

This is Martha, and yes she is, in every way, our little princess.

But like the fabled “Princess and the Pea”, our little Martha is sensitive. Very, very, VERY sensitive. She is sensitive to wheat and oats. To egg whites. To cow’s milk. And a few others things. But mostly, she is sensitive to peanuts.

And by sensitive, I mean deathly allergic.

About two months ago, we were getting ready for a trip to CA to see my sister, and I was running around doing laundry and a variety of other fun things that a mom does when she gets her family ready for an extended trip. Lil Allan (big brother, age 3) was snacking on some peanut butter crackers. You know, the ones that come six to a package, and have a thin layer of peanut butter? Yeah, those.

Martha had not been given peanut butter yet in her life, because I’d read that “they” now recommend you wait until age three to expose babies/toddlers to peanut related foods. But that night, she grabbed a cracker. Lil Allan was having one, and it looked good! I saw her grab it and start to take a bite, and instantly I thought, “hmm.. that’s her first exposure to peanuts…” And then I took it away.

I’m not really sure why I took it away, especially since both boys were eating peanut butter crackers at this age. But something made me stop and take notice of the moment, and I just decided to be extra careful.

And I’m so, so thankful that I did.

Within just a short time, Martha was breathing funny, and looking funny, and it only got worse by the minute. She was soon gritting her teeth as she tried to take breaths, and turning purple in between times. I called grandma and Daddy called 911, and for the second time this year, I got to ride with one of my children in an ambulance to the ER.

To make a super long story semi-short, we followed up with our pediatrician… Martha got some bloodwork done… and we now know that she is deathly allergic to peanuts. (And sensitive to the other stuff I mentioned above).

It’s been a few weeks now since we found out, but you can tell I’m still processing it. I’m still pretty unhappy about it, actually. BUT, I’m also thankful for a few things, and here they are:

• I’m glad I took the cracker away from her. She had only the smallest bite - barely had time to hold it and take a bite. But even that amount set off a pretty severe reaction in her.
• I’m thankful that the ambulances respond SO fast. We’ve tested 911 out three times this year, and each time they were here within minutes.
• I’m glad her first reaction was minor. Yes, it was minor. Future reactions can put her into anaphalactic shock. She didn’t quite get that far this time, but the doctor said that the next time will probably be worse.
• I’m thankful for medicines like the epi-pen that we can carry with us to protect her and help her. I’m dreading the idea of using it, but at the same time, I’m just so, so glad that something exists to save her life if and when we have an accidental exposure.
• I’m thankful for the new tests they can do on babies and children - it’s a simple blood test (like such a thing exists when trying to take blood from a 15 month old, but you know what I mean!). The blood work gave us the results without enduring any other kind of testing like the scratch tests or “here have a peanut and we’ll watch for a reaction” kind of tests.
• I’m thankful that even now, as she is a baby girl, there are scientists out there trying to “crack the code” on this peanut thing and maybe, maybe by the time she is a teenager or young adult they will have better medicines and even preventative medicines to make it less life threatening for her and others like her.

So, that’s my list for today. We’re all still struggling a bit with the transition to peanut-free home (no more snickers, reeses peanut butter cups, or peanut m&m’s - what is a mom going to do??), but it’s a small price to pay to keep our little Princess healthy and safe.

What are YOU thankful for today? If you have something to share, I encourage you to write a blog post and link up at Heavenly Homemakers, or just share in the comments over there. It’s a lot of fun reading every week what everyone else is thankful for! As my husband is fond of saying, “Gratitude is an Attitude”, and I could use a little of that this week!

Ok, so I’m a day late, but I desperately need some gratitude in my life this week, so here’s this week’s Gratituesday post!

This week I am thankful for:

• how BIG my kids are getting, AND how helpful, AND how sweet
• my wonderful husband who fills in so many of the gaps I leave while trying to “do it all”
• my awesome in-laws who fill in OTHER gaps, and always do so with a cheerful willing heart
• my sister-in-law for her friendship, and because she is an AWESOME aunt to my kiddos
• my nephew who, even though he is almost 18 years old, is happy to play with my kids whenever they come over here AND who helps us out tremendously at church with keeping track of all three rambunctious kids
• my friends who let me vent and process and just share all the stresses and joys of life
• my church family, where the relationships are growing all the time

There’s a lot more, but I have two children hanging on me right now NEEDING me, so I’ll keep the list short and sweet.  What are YOU grateful for this week?  It’s ok to share, even if it’s NOT Tuesday! <grin>

My sister is in the middle of her chemo treatments for breast cancer.   The first two treatments went “ok”, but she had pain both times, because the nurses have had a hard time accessing her power-port.  After the last treatment, she told me that she was going to insist on a lidocaine shot first, because that numbs the entire area, and hopefully she could get chemo with no pain.

My sister has a hard time standing up for herself in medical situations, but she did it.  She asked for the shot.  She got the shot.  And the chemo treatment was actually pain-free yesterday.  PLUS, her white cell count was UP, and she may not need the immune booster shot today.  That was really good news to her ears yesterday.  And these days?  We’ll take all the GOOD news we can get!

What are YOU thankful for today?  Click on over to Laura’s blog and link us up if you write a Gratituesday post!

P.S. If you are the praying kind, please pray specifically for Sarah’s next oncology appointment (tomorrow morning).  She’ll be getting the results of her PET scan back, and we’ll know more (hopefully) about how well this chemo is working.  Thanks!

For the last week or so, I’ve been feeling very creatively challenged. Every time I sit down to work on a digital scrapbook layout or try to create a candy wrapper or website header - well, I sit with a blank document and a lot of frustration. There are a lot of factors causing the creative block - PMS (sorry to the male readers, but it happens), stress over my sister (who had a bad week after chemo), a messy house (most specifically my office).

When we moved into this house over a year ago now (gasp, WHERE did THAT year go?), we vowed to keep it neat and tidy. Only, some parts of it never MADE it to neat and tidy after the initial moving in of all the STUFF. The two worst offenders in this house? Our office (my husband and I share a bedroom as our office). And our master bedroom. Visitors to the house don’t REALLY need to see those two rooms, right? When we did have guests, it was easy to just close the doors, and say, “yep, that’s our office, but it’s kind of a mess”, and “that’s the master bedroom… and moving on to Martha’s room…”

For months now, I’ve been wanting to get control of these two rooms, partly because no matter how clean the rest of the house is (you know, on those off-Tuesdays that the house is semi-cleaned up), I still have the mess of the two rooms hanging over me. But, finding time to get control of these two rooms has proven to be difficult.

Until yesterday. I sat down and made a plan for my half of the office. I organized in my mind and re-arranged a few things on paper, so I knew JUST what I was going to do.

Then I went to Walmart. (Cause yeah, that’s how to get started, don’t you know!) I bought a few organizational tools that I knew I needed, along with a trash can (because trash in a can is SO much better than trash scattered around an office), and a cute little cup for all my pens (because I can NEVER find a pen when I want one, even though there are bunches of them in this room).

And when I came home, I spent four hours bagging up trash and junk mail (the office is the place where most of our junk mail goes to hybernate for six months), throwing away broken items and things I’ll never use and can’t sell in a yard sale. And re-organizing according to my new plan! Which went REALLY well!

I still have about an hour’s worth of filing and going through old paperwork to do, but my half of the office? It’s UNDER CONTROL! I could actually allow a guest to see it, if someone should stop by (but please don’t, since I ignored the rest of my house to get the office done).

Hallelujah! You better believe I’m thankful to have this job (mostly) done! And if you managed to read this far, you are probably thankful that I’m done talking about it! So, lots of Gratitude going on around here!

If you’d like to share in more Gratituesday posts, click on over to Laura’s blog and read hers and others who linked up there. Feel free to add your own link, if you should feel so inclined!

Me, I’m going to just sit for a few minutes and bask in the glow of a CLEAN OFFICE.