4.23.12 - Best Laundry Advice Ever

First, to update on Liam - remember Thursday he had that low grade fever?  Well we ended our night in Urgent Care after he massively threw up after dinner, was cyanotic for a good hour after his bath and spiked a fever of 103.9....strange.  Urgent care checked him out and ruled out strep, and his color came back on the ride there and his sats ended up being a wonderful 100%...not sure what happened.  They sent us home as all other vitals checked out normal.  Friday he ran a low grade fever all day, but acted totally normal.  And the weekend was fever free and normal.  I guess he caught a little 24 hour bug or something.  Just weird that he was blue for so long....usually after his bath he turns a little blue, but once he's out and dried off, his color returns within minutes.  This time, it had been a whole hour and he still was dusky looking.  Anyways, just thanking God it was something minor and not seemingly heart related.  Whew!

And on to the BEST laundry advice ever....I know, seems strange to write a whole post about it, but it's true and I've been meaning to share it for awhile.  In fact, ever since early December, when my boss's wife shared with me a secret that has literally changed so much for my laundry life.  We were talking about how our boys (she has 2, a 4 year old and 2 year old) get into everything and ruin so many clothes (meanwhile the boys were all three parading on their hands and knees at the restaurant of our annual Christmas party!).  She said, "I just use "bluedon".  I was thinking...I've never heard of that, I'm sure it costs a fortune and I bet you can only find it in a small, specialty store or online somewhere.  Then she kept describing how she literally poured it all over their clothes at the kitchen sink, let it dry and then threw them in with the next load and voila, stains were gone...So, I ask her again, what is this stuff called?  And she said, "Blue Dawn, you know, the dish soap?"  That one conversation changed my laundry forever.  Especially with a heart kiddo who was frequenting a dinner of pure butter and greasiness to gain some weight and a momma who was tired of throwing out shirts and pants because of the impossible to remove oily stains.  And it works....I first tested it on fresh stains and everything came out like a charm.  Then, I moved on to shirts and pants I had retired to be "donated".  I pulled them back out with their "washed-in, set" stains and all, slathered on the Dawn soap (and ANY color works, I use the green apple, but I have stayed true to the "Dawn" brand), let the clothes sit for a few days, then added into a normal load of laundry and sure enough, every spot washed clean out....It was a miracle that has saved me much time and money! 

And I'm starting to think I may be the last person to find this trick out...but hopefully, this will help someone out there!!  It was an answered prayer for me!

4.19.12 - Some sunny pics

Not too much news on our front....Liam is running a slight fever today, and I'm not quite sure why...Little runny nose is only symptom so far (as you can see by the pics below, he is feeling fine!), so we are on watch for now.  We managed to get outside a little today, since it is too beautiful outside not to be.  I have been lagging behind in taking pictures, but here are a few of our sunny day outside

Love his silly face!

ALL boy!!

Enjoying the outside shade!

We are off to Home Depot tonight (for about the 53rd time this month....Ugh, thank goodness it's less than a mile down the road!) for some grout to finish up our new shower floor - Yay!  I just keep thinking why we didn't do all these things to the house while we could enjoy it for a little while! Ha! 

Oh, and I think I'm coming out of my "funk" from Sunday's post...whew!  Thanks for being such supportive readers and friends! 

4.15.12 - Potty Time

Oh how I have waited for this time to come, and still probably wish it weren't here yet, but we are officially potty training...I just can't believe my little man is ready for it, which means he is growing up too fast!  We started off last Monday, doing a sort of Potty Boot-Camp, and having Liam go potty every 15 minutes and he did great.  Only a couple accidents, once right after the new undies were put on, and then again later in the day when I forgot to set the timer...oops!  The next couple days were a bit more relaxed as he was with his Mimi and Baba at their house.  The later part of the week he was able to go longer in between breaks, but we had to compensate for some errand running by putting him in a diaper.  While he has his diaper on, he will stay ask to use the potty sometimes.  And while he was in a diaper a good part of the weekend, I am hoping to stretch him a bit tomorrow and see where he is at.  I'm going to try to run a quick errand with just undies and see how he does, so we shall see!  Our whole goal is to try to keep it relaxed and non-stressful for Liam so that he won't develop any fears of going...I am trying my best (although have myself failed a few times!) to be patient and encouraging. 

As for the home front, we are hoping to get some work finalized on our house before we put it on the market.  We are shooting for the end of April - Now that our house is looking all snazzy, it makes me want to stay! LOL....But I know God has a plan for our move and I'm kinda getting excited to see what it will be!  

That's basically been our life the past week or so!  On the blogging front, I've been at somewhat of a writer's block lately and I just haven't been able to get myself motivated to write much other than what we've been up to.  And to my fellow blog friends, I am still reading your stories, just not commenting as much.  I think something about the "social media" ideal is really bothering me and I can't figure out why...Facebook, Pinterest, Blogland (beyond my close group of heart families and friends I follow), the internet in general, I have just lately felt kind of "bothered" by it and have begun to pull away from it...I've been slightly convicted lately that it consumes more time than it needs to, but I also feel overwhelmed by it.  And I know one of my personality traits is that I tend to go into shut down mode when I get overwhelmed, so maybe that's it.   Anyways, I'm just spilling this all here to let you guys know I'm still here and if I seem a bit "off" in my posts, this could be why =)

4.5.12 - Lots going on and milestone!

Wow...to say this year is flying by would be an understatement!  We have been busily trying to knock out our to-do list for small fixes to the house so we can get it on the market.   Plus, we rented storage so we can start packing up and clearing out the non-essentials for staging.  The process is going well, just hard to find time to actually dig in and get it done!

Just to also mention since we live in the Dallas area, the tornadoes that ripped through this area on Tuesday were monumental...I think they said there were a dozen that touched down in just our few counties.  Thankfully, our community and friends and family we have that live in and around these parts are ok and no damage was seen.  However, please be praying for those that lost their homes and property to this devastation.  It was a scary day for everyone.

In the meantime, Liam has started potty training himself!  LOL...I went on a retreat this past weekend and Dustin mentioned when I got home that Liam had gone pee-pee on the potty a few times while I was away.  He really hasn't shown much interest in it up to this point, so I was excited he got him self there on his own time - and glad we didn't have to start pushing it on him.  So, this week we have continued to just be relaxed with it and take him to the potty if he asks to go....I'm really not quite sure what the next step will be.  He has a new a froggy potty and some training underwear....so I guess I'll start with that!  I just don't want to push him too hard with it.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

For Easter coming up, we are going to my parents house Friday to celebrate and then everyone is coming here on Sunday for a big dinner and some egg hunting.  I love Easter...it's my favorite time of year.  In fact, the retreat I went on was so special.  It was an all women's retreat, but it had an experience like no other.  I truly felt God's love and presence like never before, and it was a much needed reminder of his grace and mercy before this Easter weekend.  God loves us SO much...so much that he sent His only Son to die for us while we were (and still are) unworthy and sinners.  His blood covers all our sins if we believe in Him, because he OVERCAME death for US - He is RISEN!....Just to be reminded of this gift and how powerful it is was a blessing.  I know I have experienced His love and mercy in mighty ways even just in our walk with Liam's heart, and I am so grateful and thankful for my salvation and that Jesus is ALIVE in my heart.  Such peace it gives that our God is on the throne. 

Here is one of my favorite songs for the season, "Overcome" by Jeremy Camp - hope you enjoy this powerful worship song!

 Happy Easter everyone!

3.26.12 - Then and now

 March 2011...
 

 March 2012...

I always find it interesting to compare where we were a year ago...Liam has grown SO much in the past year, I can't keep up!  He is definitely all-out 2 year old right now, and so much fun!  Talks non-stop, can count forwards and backwards, say his ABC's, recognize places (even their corresponding receipts!) and reads some basic words.  Not to mention he is getting so tall! 

We had a great weekend.  We took a Saturday morning train ride downtown and went to the Dallas Auto Show.  Since my lease is up in the fall, and we've been wanting to scale down a bit to save money, we thought this would be the most convenient place to see all the cars at once and get an idea of what we will focus our attention on when the time comes, plus it made for a great family outing!  Not to mention the weather has been gorgeous lately!

Another update in our life has been our living situation.  I mentioned a couple months ago we had been waiting on the Apartment Ministry to place us, but we have since felt the need to move on and go ahead and sell our house.  We are not quite sure of an exact plan yet, but a smaller, more affordable home is on the horizon.  So we are steadily working to get the house in order to put on the market - which is quite a chore!  I have never sold a house before, so I'm not quite sure what this will look like, especially having viewings all the time with a toddler running wild in the house! Ahhh!  Thankfully, a great friend of ours who sold us this house is helping us prepare and make sure everything is in order.  We have some minor repairs to complete, but mainly just getting decluttered and start taking most of our things into storage. 

So that's the then and now of it!  My posting will probably slow down a bit (as it already has!), but hopefully I can still get an update in every couple weeks....Thanks for continuing to share in our story! 

3.15.12 - Feeling better and parenting through the "NO" phase....

Been busy lately and haven't been able to put much of a good post together!  Just wanted to update that Liam is feeling all better from the flu last week, and thankfully Dustin and I didn't catch it....whew!  He still has his lingering cough, currently being treated with some honey, which I am sure is better than the 6 straight days of medicines he had been taking. 

Just before Liam got sick, we started a sticker chart to help with discipline and positive rewards for listening to us and being obedient....we have officially run into the "no" toddler phase, and Liam was seemingly unaffected by time outs or taking things away, so we are still learning what the best approach is to discipline.  I am trying to overly reward good behavior and obedience that he does show by a sticker chart.  Once he gets 10 stickers a day, he gets a reward of 10 M&M's after dinner (if he eats well - which has to be the last sticker to get them!).  He will DO ANYTHING for M&M's, its his official favorite food....it's crazy.  And while this is sort of a bribing technique, it works for us...for now.  I have lacked the energy or time to research some different approaches, but anyone feel free to comment on what works for children immune to time outs!  I really want our discipline to be positive and more of rewarding good behavior than punishing the bad.  But I also don't want him to get the idea that he should show good behavior just to get a reward....Ahhh, the parenting choices we face!  I think I have taken for granted how good he has been up to this point!

3.8.12 - Fever and the Flu

Liam has been running a fever since Monday.  After the second trip to the pedi yesterday, it was determined that he has the Flu...yuck.  He even got his flu shot last October, but they said it's going around again, but a more mild version. He was miserable most of Tuesday and yesterday, but seems to be feeling a little better today.  Other than having a couple intense coughing episodes, he is just tired and snuggly.  I sure do love all the snuggling, but I just want him to feel better.  They have him taking TamiFlu, and he doesn't seem to be having any reaction, so that's good.  If he is still feverish tomorrow, I have to take him back in to re-assess....his fever seems to be breaking for longer periods of time today, so I'm hopeful by tomorrow it will be gone for good!

We haven't been up to too much lately, just enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having despite all the terrible storms that have been pounding across the country lately. Although, right now, a cold front is moving through and it's getting cold and rainy. 

This past weekend we spent some good quality family time on Saturday.  We took Liam to Home Depot for their 1st Saturday kids project day.  It was fun to see him and daddy building something together...I didn't even know Home Depot did that!  Then it was a little shopping, lunch, then home for a late afternoon nap for all of us.

Working away!

Finished project!

While daddy played golf Sunday, Liam and I had a nice long afternoon at the park, although our car ended up getting scratched pretty bad because of our outing...oops!  It was crazy crowded and I tried to parallel into a weird spot with big boulders lining the side...I realized big boulders really don't have any give when you hit them with your car!  Anyways, Liam and I enjoyed throwing rocks into the creek and playing on the playground, although I am pretty sure that's probably where he might have caught the flu...so many kids!  

And the pictures by the creek..one of those moments I was kicking myself for not lugging along the big camera...the sun was sitting perfectly reflecting on it and it was beautiful...It was still even beautiful with my iPhone pics...

2.29.12 - Swallow study = Progress!

Liam got a great report on his swallow study yesterday.  He can now tolerate a nectar consistency instead of the honey, and we are to start working on thinner liquids through a "coffee-cup" straw (very thin straw to slow down the flow).  I am SO thankful for some improvement!  The therapist also said that she is confident the only "issue" we are dealing with is a timing issue in his swallow function.  She said his muscle tone, physiology and swallow were all working as they should, but is just slightly delayed which causes him to aspirate on quick flowing liquids.  She was very thorough in explaining everything to me, so I feel much clearer about his situation.  So our plan is to take it an ounce at a time, and slowly start "teaching" him to swallow thin liquids.  I have yet to try it out since Liam stayed at my parents the remainder of yesterday and today while I was working, but I am anxious to see how he does.  Obviously, we are going to be closely monitoring his lungs and breathing to make sure he isn't silently aspirating and is tolerating it well.  The good news is that he actually did cough when he aspirated a little during the swallow study, which is also an improvement from the silent aspirating he had been experiencing before.  So, all in all, we are very pleased with the results!  Glory to God!

2.26.12 - Doing great

With all the big changes that took place last weekend, Liam is doing fantastic.  He is sleeping and napping well in his new big boy bed and transitioned really well, with only two naps not taken and a slightly interrupted first night sleep.  This is a huge praise!  I will admit I had some anxiety about the changeover, as I really value his nap time to get some work done! LOL.  I am glad he values his nap time too =)

The tube being out has been such a blessing, although I still find myself unconsciously thinking that it's still there.  And I guess it's closing up ok??  Moms that have taken theirs out before, it still kind looks like a second belly button...is this normal?  Not sure how long it takes for the skin to close up completely...Just want to make sure we don't need to get it looked at, because I have no idea if it looks right or not!

I also scheduled Liam for his next swallow study for this Tuesday...had to get it in before our insurance changes March 1.  Ugh.  Insurance is such a huge deal for us now, whereas before Liam, we didn't give it much thought.  I've decided this time around, I really want to know for sure what is causing Liam's dysfunctional swallow, if it is still present.  I've always been a little confused as to what is actually the cause of it - they either say it's low muscle tone (which I don't understand this when he is swallowing solids just fine) or that it's due to his vocal chord.  I guess I need someone to draw me out a picture and explain it to me that makes physiological sense?  I just keep thinking there is more to it that what they are telling us.   Anyways, I'm paying for some positive improvement!

That's about all that's been going on for us.  Busy time of year this is, as I am now officially a paid tax preparer.  This also involves taking an exam at some point!  I have a couple clients I am doing from home, plus a couple of blog designs to work on as well.  I think I am busier now than when I worked full time!

I'll post an update after the swallow study!

2.19.12 - Big changes

The tube is finally out...

Right after removal...

A few last pictures of Liam with his tube...

It's time!

It's official and he's showing it off!

I am still in a little bit of shock that the time has actually come to take it out!   It's just been all we've known for so long.  I did get a little emotional, and so did Liam.  He got sad and asked me to put it back in...I told him that he was a big boy and didn't need it anymore because he was so big and strong now.  Which led us to make another change this weekend that we've been meaning to do...

No more crib!

Liam is finally out of the crib and into a big boy bed!  He hasn't officially slept in it yet...as we made the change this afternoon, but hopefully things will go smoothly.  He seems to love it so far!


And I guess potty training maybe in the near future too...gosh this age, they just grow up so fast!  I almost can't keep up!  Thank you all for all your prayers...God is moving mighty mountains in this family and bolstering our testimony that He is good and SO SO faithful!