Online Adoration

The subject for today's musings is brought to you by The One-Minute Writer.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2014

Today's Writing Prompt: Online Adoration

Have you ever made a friend or fallen in love with someone you met online?

Oh, this one is almost too easy. I am currently engaged to a wonderful man. We met online. I had been trying the online thing for awhile with no luck. I just couldn't click with anyone. I was sure it was going to be like that for awhile, if not forever.

Then, one day, he messaged me. We talked for awhile. We talked daily for quite awhile. It was almost constantly through out the day. We decided to meet in person. We chose the Spudnut shop in Richland. Our conversation was as wonderful as always. When we were done there, we wanted more time, so we walked the Parkade and visited some of the shops. I'm not even sure how much time we spent, but we enjoyed the time.

I have to admit, I wasn't sure. I was so comfortable. I was hoping for sparks, fireworks, or something else like it. I figured we would just stay friends. A coworker suggested I give it some more time.

So we continued talking. Then I invited him to my house for a day of cards, Yahtzee, and other games. We had a blast. My kids loved him. I was so happy. The warm glow was much better than any fireworks could ever be.

On May 2, 2011, he did the cutest thing ever. He asked me if he could tell his friends that I was his girlfriend. I knew then that I was in love.

Art

The subject for today's musings is brought to you by The One-Minute Writer.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2014

Today's Writing Prompt: Art

What's your favorite work of art? What do you love about it?

This one is actually pretty easy though I have 2. They are called The Accolade and Godspeed, by Edmund Blair Leighton.

I've always been interested in all things medieval. King Arthur, Merlin, Knights of the Round Table, those are all very cool. A man being knighted by his queen, a lady bestowing her token on a knight before he goes off to war; these are what I imagine when I think of chivalry and knighthood.

While I was looking for these images, I found another that I found pretty neat. I'm a bit of a Star Wars fan. Add that to one of my favorite images and I'm all for it.  This one is also called The Accolade and was found on deviantart.  The artist is mataleoneRJ.

What Do You Want to See?

Since I'm not very good at coming up with topics here, I thought I would ask here.  What would you like me to write about?  Post it here in the comments and I will see what I can do!

My Baby Girls – Part 2

8 Years of Twins

My girls were born on a Saturday. Shannon and I came home on Tuesday. It was hard to leave Fiona by herself, but once Shannon was discharged, I couldn't keep her there with me while we waited for Fiona. They wouldn't let me. Luckily, it was only one more day for Fiona. We got her the next day.

The first week home was crazy. I was trying to breastfeed, but my milk hadn't come in yet, so we were supplementing with formula. I was also pumping to help the milk come in. It was a pain. I would breast feed, the bottle feed, and then pump. Then the process would start again. I couldn't keep up. It was decided that we would just use formula. To this day, I wish I could have continued. I don't beat myself up over it like I used, but I still wish I could have.

Five weeks after the girls were born, I went back to work. I was out of vacation time and we needed the money. That only lasted until the end of May. Daycare costs were just too much. I was working to pay daycare, which was just pointless.

There were some good times and rough times in there. I was lucky with the night time feedings. I was told that they would probably be on different schedules at first. Well they were, but it wasn't a bad one. One would wake up, I would change her and feed her. Just about the time I was done with the first, the second would wake. After changing and feeding that one, I would get 3 solid hours of sleep.

On Easter morning, Shannon had slept through the night. On Mother's Day, Fiona had. The best way to have my first Mother's Day.

The rough part was when Fiona developed a hemangioma. This was placed in a difficult place; right between her nose and mouth. This made eating painful for her. She lost a bit of weight. She also could no longer use her pacifier. That was hard. We went to see a specialist at Seattle Children's Hospital. Dr. Gruss was wonderful. He took a look at Fiona and told us our options. The first was steroids. This would, hopefully shrink the thing to the point of not being painful. The second was plastic surgery to remove it completely. Unfortunately, both of these options would have to wait. Fiona was too young and little for the steroids. He was worried about it causing harm. As for the surgery, the hemangioma was too big. They don't like to take more than half of lip and it took up at ¾ of her tiny mouth.

So we waited. The hardest month so far. We used Vaseline to help keep it soft so she could at least eat. When we went back, it looked so much better that it was decided to wait and see if it would shrink on it's own. Probably one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. I knew it was the right one, but I wanted it gone. It had already cause enough pain for my little one; I didn't want it causing more. It is now just scar tissue. Much smaller and not interfering with anything.

At the end of September, we had another scare. That day, Shannon was extremely cranky. By the afternoon, she was running a fever. I got out the thermometer and stuck it under her arm. By the time it got to 104, I took it out and called the doctor. No one should run a fever that high, but especially not a 9 month old baby.

At the doctor's office, everything was checked. Her throat, ears, belly, everything. Nothing was coming up. Then the doctor told me she might have a UTI. To test for that required a catheter. That was the hardest thing to have to watch. When the test came back positive, we were immediately admitted to the hospital. Once there, poor Shannon had to have an iv. I was in tears! My poor little girl was being tortured and there was nothing I could do about it.

The next four days were a blur. I remember sleeping fitfully. Between poor Shannon being very uncomfortable and the nurses checking on her, I was up constantly. During the day, she had ultrasounds and more blood tests. On the last day, before we could leave, we had to have VCUG. This was because a 9 month old should not have a UTI. Basically, they had to take x-rays while filling her little bladder up with contrast to see what would happen. Another catheter, and much pain and confusion for my little girl. It was confirmed that she had Stage 2 Urinary Reflux.

We were referred to a specialist. I was scared. Everything I had read so far said that surgery would be needed. Once again, however, we dodged the bullet on that one. Dr. Starr said that it wasn't bad enough to require surgery. I just had to give Shannon a prophylactic to keep the UTIs away. This meant she would take an antibiotic once a day for an indeterminate amount of time. As much as I didn't like that idea, surgery was scarier. By June 2007, we were able to take her off of it. Before she was potty trained, we dealt with a few more infections. Since the completion of potty training, we have had only one.

In the winter of 2007, both girls got the flu for the first time. The next day, Fiona was doing so much worse that I took her in to ER. A chest x-ray later, it was determined that she had pneumonia. You can bet I've done everything I can to keep her from getting the flu again.

In the summer of 2009, Fiona got strep throat. Now, her tonsils were big anyway. This caused them to swell so much that they were almost touching. Two weeks later, they still hadn't gone down. Her pediatrician made me wait four more weeks to see if they would shrink. When they didn't, we were referred to a specialist. They were huge. He decided they needed to come out. Up until this point, Fiona hadn't done much in the way of talking. One week after her surgery, I was ready for them to go back in. She was talking almost as much as Shannon! That saying of "only being quiet while sleeping", doesn't apply to Shannon; she talks in her sleep, too.

We have been through 2 cross country moves. The first one was hard. The girls and I went by Greyhound one month before their dad. That was a very rough 36 hours. Me with 2 toddlers on a bus. By the end we were both tired, cranky, and so done with being there. The second one was a bit easier. We actually drove this time. That meant we got to stretch our legs a bit. We also got to sleep in beds instead of on the bus. However, it also took longer. By the end of the trip, Shannon was throwing things at me. She was done and wanted out!

There have been some other changes since the move back. Travis and I divorced. This was hardest on Fiona. She has had some anger issues. I finally decided it was time to seek counseling. She was unofficially diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder. It was unofficial because the counselor didn't want to put that label on someone so young. We have been working with a counselor for awhile now and she has gotten so much better.

In the fall of 2010, Fiona had an accident at daycare. She and another little girl collided. Fiona being the smaller one, “bounced”. She had two black eyes by the end of the day, but otherwise was fine. Three days later, she woke up in the middle of the night, screaming that her head hurt! I gave her some Tylenol, hoping that would help. It did. She went back to sleep. Four hours later, however, she was screaming again. It was time for a trip to the ER. The doctor said that a concussion wasn't likely, but he wanted to do a quick CT scan, just in case. When he came back to our room, he said he had good news and a reason. The good news was that there was no concussion. The reason? Somehow, the accident had jarred Fiona's sinus cavities. This had caused a blockage which centered in the middle of her forehead. Basically, she had an injury induced sinus infection.

In April of 2011, I met a wonderful man. Ted has been my rock these last almost 3 years. He also came with 2 daughters of his own. Leora is a year and a half older than my girls and Abby is 4 months younger. What a crazy family we are!

Shannon has been my accident prone child. In the fall of 2011, she had a fall at daycare. She was climbing the steps to some play equipment, stepped on her shoe lace, and bit almost through her lip. We took her in to ER and she got three stitches. She calls them cat whiskers, since that is what the doctor told her they would feel like. She was a champ. She never moved while they were stitching her up.

The next fall, Shannon had another accident. This time, it was at home. All four girls were playing “Avoid the Lava” in the bedroom. This entailed hanging off the side of the bunk beds. Shannon proceeded to lose her balance, fall backwards, and land on her elbow. I got a call at work from Ted as she wouldn't straighten her arm and it was paining her greatly. I took her in for x-rays, which came back inconclusive. They couldn't see any break, but there was fluid around the joint. We decided to treat it as a break. She got a bright pink cast. When it came off 3 weeks later, a second x-ray was done. The break was confirmed by the bone growth that had happened over the break.

During the summer of 2013, Shannon had yet another bout of strep throat. I had had enough! I asked for a referral to an ENT. While her tonsils weren't huge, they were big. Considering her history of infections, we decided to take them out. Turns out it was a good thing. They took her adenoids out, too, as they often do with children. Her's were so big that they wore the doctor's instrument out! The recovery was rough. It was so much easier with Fiona. She had bounced back after just a couple of days. Shannon ate next to nothing for the next two weeks. Getting her to take her medicine was a fight every time. We finally told her she wasn't allowed to complain about the pain if she wouldn't take it. When the medicine was in her and working, she was almost her normal, bubbly self. When the medicine wore off, she was cranky, whiny, and clingy. That is not normal for her. I was so very glad when we got past all of that.

Back in December of 2013, I had both of my girls tested for ADHD. I had suspicions before and after reading the symptoms, decided it was time. While Fiona only showed symptoms at home, Shannon showed them at school as well. We haven't done medication yet since she is still doing very well in school. I didn't see the need for it yet. Her teacher has since told me that she has become a lot more distracted since Christmas, so it may be time to visit that option again.

During all of this, I was dealing with worsening migraines. In September of 2013, it was decided that I need to quit my job since I was missing more than I was working. We moved in with Ted's dad to help with expenses. As hard as it has been, I am glad we moved. The school here is very small. To give you an idea how small, the girls are in a 2^nd and 3^rd grade combined class and there are still only 12 students. The girls are doing very well in school. Shannon has gotten the extra challenge that she needs and Fiona has gotten the very firm pushing that she needs.

As you can see, the last 8 years have been very eventful. Today is their birthday. It's crazy to think how much they have grown. Fiona is going to be tall, I think. She almost reaches my shoulders already. She loves fashion and is obsessed with shoes. Shannon is about two inches shorter than Fiona, but still on the tall side for her age. She is curious about everything and will eat almost anything.

I love my baby girls with everything I am. I am so blessed to have them in my life. With all the ups and downs we've had, I wouldn't trade any of it.

Happy Birthday, Fiona!
Happy Birthday, Shannon!

My Baby Girls – Part 1

The Pregnancy

It all started in July of 2005. It was the day I was supposed to start my cycle and I just knew it wasn't going to happen. There are many things that happen when I am going to start and they weren't happening. I told my fiance that something wasn't right and he wanted me to take a store bought test. I took 2. They were both positive. I should have known then that it was twins. I mean, I wasn't even late and the tests were showing me as pregnant.

I was working in the radiology department of a hospital at the time. I was already showing (a very tiny bit) and was constantly hungry (morning sickness started later). I asked the ultrasound tech if she would take a look as I was suspecting twins. She confirmed it immediately.

The next few months are almost a blur. I was sick constantly, for the rest of the first half of the pregnancy. The second half, I was uncomfortable. I mean, I was HUGE! Everything hurt. Sleeping was not fun, as I had to constantly roll over to get comfortable. I compared myself to a rotisserie chicken on more than one occasion.

One night, I woke up in excruciating pain. I was having trouble breathing and my left arm was numb. I was sure I was having a heart attack. After getting to the hospital and seeing the doctor, he told me that my diaphragm was pinched. Rotten children were trying to suffocate me!

At the beginning of January, I started having contractions. Since I wasn't even due until March 17^th, steps were taken to keep the babies in the oven. I was put on modified bed rest. While this meant I could still get up and move a bit, I could no longer work. My doctor also gave me orders for a handicapped placard for my car. I was also not to walk in the grocery store; I had to use a motorized cart. What a pain!

Towards the end of January, I had to get steroid shots to help develop the lungs of my little ones. They were pretty sure I was going to be early and they were taking no chances.

On February 7^th, I started having some serious contractions. We went into the hospital to see what would happen. Though the contractions were strong, I was not dilating. So I was sent home.

On the night of February 10^th, I had this horrible pain start. It was like a wide belt was being slowly tightened around me. After calling my step mom, who is a nurse, it was decided that I should go in.

They were now coming out. I spent the night watching and feeling all the contractions. They were horribly irregular and that worried everyone. At 7am on February 11^th, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. I might have tried to go without it, but I wasn't allowed to. In case they had to do a c-section, it had to be in place. That darn thing took 11 tries! I was sooooo big, I couldn't curl tight enough for him to get a good poke. It finally took me laying on my side with my husband pushing my feet up as far as they would go.

I was given Pitocin to help regulate my contractions. The doctor also broke the water of the first baby. They also put an internal monitor on her. Up until this point, I had three external monitors on me, one for contractions and two for the little heart beats. They kept having to be readjusted due to constant moving. They needed to be able to monitor both babies heartbeats and it was becoming difficult.

Around 1:30pm, I was wheeled into the operating room. This was in case of any complications that might require immediate c-section. It was a long process. I was worn out and wasn't sure I would be able to push. But I did it. At 1:45, Fiona Erinn was born. She was 4lbs, 3 oz, 16 inches long. The tiny little girl had a head full of black hair. Then came the next part. The doctor broke the water of the other little baby. After nine pushes, Shannon Deirdre came out. She was 4lbs, 14 oz, 17 inches long. She had next to no hair and it was very blond.

They were both very healthy little girls. I was so happy to have the pregnancy over. I was even more excited to have my babies. They were beautiful!

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Tomorrow, I will tell you about the last 8 years.

Homosexuality

I know this isn't for everyone and that's great! The world would be a pretty boring place if everyone were the same.

I know the Bible says it's wrong. And if that is your belief, great! You are entitled to your beliefs and opinions. However, it also says to love one another and to treat others how you want to be treated. How would you like it if they treated you the way you treat them? Something to think about, right?

If you live in America, we are a country with freedom of religion. That means we can practice what we believe to be the religion for us. It also means that we can choose to not practice if that is our belief. If you don't want someone trying to force their beliefs on you, don't try to force it on them. Love them for who they are.

One of my favorite quotes about homosexuality comes from a book. “This I think I have learned: where there is love, the form does not matter, and the gods are pleased. This I have observed: what occurs in nature, comes by the hand of nature, and if the gods did not approve, it would not be there.

~ Moondance k'Treva (Magic's Pawn, by Mercedes Lackey)” I love this quote. Where there is love, the form does not matter. Why would you try to separate those who love each other? Just because your idea of love is not the same as yours shouldn't matter. They love each other. Let them be.

Something to think about: “Research indicates that various forms of (homosexuality) are found throughout the animal kingdom.” - Wikipedia

Life is hard enough without having to worry about whether your sexual preference will be used against you. Show some compassion.

A few passages from the Bible:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." - John 8:7

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. - Matthew 7:1

These were all found here.  You are also free to look them up in your own Bible.

So think about these for a moment. Do you love your family and friends? Do you love the stranger walking down the street? Are you without sin?

Updates and Changes

I've been trying to do banners on all of my pages since I started these blogs, but they never turned out how I wanted them to.  Finally, I found this site that helped me figure it all out.  I was able to get the pictures I wanted, the font (almost) that I wanted, and still size it the way I wanted.  

I had a lot of help from Ted, since he has experience with graphic design and such.  He actually created the collage for the About Me page, since I was having such a hard time with it.

I am especially happy with the Mind Over Migraines banner, as it shows a lot of how I feel on any given day.

I'm still not completely happy with my recipe banner, but I'll keep looking and playing with it until I get it right.  If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I am very open to them.

Enjoy the new look!