Goodbye Minnesota...again.

It can't be real that we're saying goodbye to Minnesota.  Family is here, we own a home here, there's so much history here and we have friends here.  We'll be back!  Whether that's just to visit or someday return to live is still unknown but it's hard to believe we're really leaving.  We left once before when we went to Dominican Republic but we knew that job was only a temporary position.  This time leaving is different.  We are moving to settle somewhere new!  Settle?!  We've been married almost five years and still haven't settled but with the weather and cost of living, Texas really could be the place to keep us...well at least for longer than 1-2 years.  With that said and all the anticipation and excitement we are feeling, there is still sadness.  Change is hard, leaving is hard, missing family and friends is hard.

We are so so grateful for the beautiful goodbye party Kristy threw for us tonight!  Thanks to EVERYONE who came to say goodbye! It was so fun to see people from all different parts of our life come together at one gathering.  It was like a reunion and each person there is so special to me and my family for a different reason.  I sure can't wait for you all to come and visit and I'm grateful for the technology that will hold us together in between.

I want to write something profound about Minnesota, the people, and all the things I'll miss and am grateful for but I'm not feeling it tonight.  Tonight I'm just feeling like "Minnesota is home" and I am grateful for that!

Here are some pictures from our party:

Thank you Nell for the MN onesie, she sure needed it today!

My Epistle to Joaquin on his Third Birthday

I love my birthday poem tradition.  I don't have a lot of traditions yet as we are a young family that can't seem to stop moving but I do look forward to writing my kids their birthday poem each year.  Here and here are Joaquin's poems from previous years and this year on his third birthday I've written him an epistle!

Joaquin Joaquin, do you know who you are?
Do you know what you've done to my life?
I see you as my guardian angel, my comforter.
Why? You may ask,
Because of you being by my side.
As I reflect on our three years
I can remember so many things
Your talents, your interests, your behavior...
But what comes to mind first
is you being by my side.
The month I spent alone when daddy traveled for work,
you were there.
The day you and I flew to a foreign country to meet daddy and start a new life,
you were there.
When Khaleesi was born and I was in the hospital for three days,
you were still there.
When Khalessi was sick and returned to the hospital for five days,
it was you that cuddled me in the hospital bed.
It's you that tells me not to cry.
I don't know how you do what you do at only three years
but I don't know how I got through anything hard before you.
This Joaquin is why you're my guardian angel and my comforter.
I love you,
Happy Birthday!

A Change is Gonna Come

I haven't been able to get this song out of my head lately!  Jesus has been looking for a new job in warmer weather for the past year and I've just had a feeling that after Khaleesi was born, our "change was gonna come!"  My mom has been so gracious to let us stay with her after our unplanned return from the Dominican Republic while we've been trying to figure out what should be our next move.  We've agreed we want warmer weather and more house for our money.  The place that has stood out to us the most for specifically those two reasons has been Texas.  However Jesus has not found a job there or any of the other warm climates he's applied.  We believe it would be so much easier to get an out of state job if he was just in the state he was applying!

About a week ago, I had a thought.  If we really wanted to go to Texas, maybe I could get us there!  I remember hearing Texas needs teachers.  So I spent hours for two nights filling out extensive applications.  Teacher apps are the WORST with section upon section and then essay questions and personality surveys and some even have math tests!  The next day I decided I better email some Principals directly because how else would I get my name out of a big electronic pile.  Both the Houston and Dallas districts are so ginormous that I only emailed about ten principals each and there were still hundreds of schools left in the districts. There was no way I could have emailed them all.

By some crazy twist of fate, someone had an opening after the school year had begun.  On Tuesday I interviewed, on Wednesday I got an offer and on Thursday I accepted the position.

Friends, we are going to Dallas!

This wasn't our plan.  The plan was Jesus would get an offer and I would keep being a stay at home mom while setting up our new place and finding myself and the kids new friends.  But somehow with the offer we did receive, we couldn't refuse.  I wanted to.  I thought I was going to up until I dialed the Principal's phone number.

It's a pay cut and a leap of faith!

I have been so sad and so scared about going back to work full time and leaving my babies but it's just a school year and school's out at 3:30 every day so I can make it.  Jesus has a whole new world ahead of him being the stay at home dad until he finds a job but he's ready.   I know he and the kids will have fun but I'm just hoping he will get groceries and do laundry from time to time! ;)  So working moms, it's time to insert your advice here. Am I going to cry in front of my co-workers every day missing my babies?!

I've been doing a lot of studying about the difference between inspiration and intuition and fear. I've been finding inspirational quotes that both lead me to go and lead me to stay. The conclusion I came to was that my reason for not taking the position would have been fear.  The best part of the whole thing was when I hung up the phone with the Principal, I actually felt excitement and that was unexpected.  I had been praying and feeling conflicted for days. After I accepted the position, I changed my prayer to: "Lord, I'm doing this.  Please stop it if isn't right."  But as of now, Jesus and I are feeling good.  Nervous to quit Jesus's job and pack up and leave but we know it's an opportunity we have to go for.  We moved to the Dominican Republic when Joaquin was between 3 and 4 months and now to Texas when Khaleesi is between 3 and 4 months.  Maybe we will settle there or maybe we will just move again after a third baby that turns 3 months...JK I hope!  Could you imagine?!

Check out all the quotes I found that just confused me because some pointed one way and some pointed the other.

 


 


Oh and do you want to know about my position? It's not a classroom teacher which I'm actually really excited about.  It's in a large elementary school in Dallas.  Lots of the schools in the district have gardens they use to teach classes about entomology, agriculture, community, etc.  This school has one of the biggest and most historical gardens in the district.  They even have a butterfly garden and a chicken coup within it!  It's basically a community garden run by the school and volunteers and what the Principal described to me as very involved, high maintenance parents.  I am going to be the garden coordinator and liaison between parents and teachers for this program. It's such an exciting program that they have had for years but they just need some help so I'm going to take on the job!

Clearly we're sad to miss so many people we love here in Minnesota but this is our chance to get settled somewhere warm and potentially find a beautiful new home.  I'll especially miss my mom and my brother who have been so close by but flights from here to there are only $80 bucks so that as well as FaceTime will help a lot.  Prayers and happy thoughts needed for Jesus to get a job once we're out there and thanks in advance for that!

Khalessi - Cow's milk allergy?

We've been home from the hospital for over two weeks after Khaleesi battled dehydration caused by campylobacter which I wrote about here and here.  She's been doing much better since returning home but just when I thought her diarrhea was gone, it returned non-stop.  Then I saw her vomit and you could imagine the panic that ran through my mind thinking she could still be sick and I feared going through my mommy nightmare all over again.  But since there were no signs of dehydration, I waited things out.  She has continued to be a happy baby and still sleeping well during the night.  But day after day, I've started seeing her struggle a little bit more.  I can see her stomach in pain as she scrunches up her legs and cries and wants to be held more.  The diarrhea and occasional vomiting have continued as well as dryness around her forehead.

All of these things are symptoms of a cow's milk allergy.  Now I don't know for sure that it's an allergy but the symptoms sure point that way. The past few days have been trial and error of different formulas.  The gentle/sensitive ones have proven to not be any different than the normal kind.  The one formula that she has been doing better with is the hypo-allergenic kind specifically for cow's milk allergies.  I called the doctor today and he suggested I try soy but I'm not sure I want to use that long term.  Also half of babies allergic to cow's milk are also allergic to soy but we are going to give it a try and maybe we can supplement with it even if I don't want to use it all the time.  At this rate, it really looks like she needs the hypo-allergenic kind which stinks (literally smells terrible) because it is substantially more expensive than regular formula.  I've heard I can order in bulk for cheap on Ebay.  If you have other money saving suggestions for this, please send them my way.

The next couple weeks or so will continue to be trial and error to see which formula my little baby can tolerate best with normal poop again, less pain and no vomiting.  I feel close and far away at the same time.  Her four month check-up is in November and I can talk to the doctor then if we haven't figured this out on our own or if things get substantially worse (which WILL NOT happen!)  You could also imagine there is No cloth diapering going on right now until we get this diarrhea under control!

What are your thoughts?  Cow's milk allergy? Something else?  It's interesting stuff eh?

And here she is growing and playing:

HOME

Is there a happier photo than the family that you love all together again?  Khaleesi was released from the hospital today after 4 long nights and it feels so good.  No more trips back and forth, no more shift sleeping between Jesus and I and best of all an assurance that she is well enough to be home and continuing to get better!

She looks great!  She was up smiling all morning and has been eating normally.  She still has some diarrhea but it's finally to the point that we believe she is taking in more than she's putting out.  That's what we needed to happen in order to be done with the IV, be confident in her hydration levels and be able to go home.  On Thursday night, I wrote the story of our journey and thought I'd be going home the next morning.  Turns out she had several watery poops that night and our morning plans turned into getting a bigger room with a window.  The sunshine and this beautiful fall tree sure helped!

Later that day or the next day (I've lost all track of time) the Doctor thought Khaleesi was ready to go home again.  Just as the nurse was about to pull out her IV, Khaleesi vomited everywhere.  Thank goodness, they did not get the IV out and have to put it back in because with this news, it meant another night at the hospital.  At this point, Khaleesi was being treated with an IV for hydration and under lots of observation and endured many tests all leading to a viral infection.  But on Saturday they took another stool sample and found a bacteria called, Campylobacter. This meant we FINALLY had a diagnosis and there was an antibiotic to treat it!  Campylobacter is a bacterial infection similar to food poisoning that could have been caught anywhere from anyone.  Did I touch something at the grocery store, target, the playground, faulty diaper change, a friend?  It could've been anywhere and we'll never know.  It's very contagious and spreadable so there is some very diligent hand washing going on in this house! I remember when I had food poisoning as an adult and was shaking uncontrollably and vomiting on the way to the Doctor so I can only imagine catching something similar as a tiny baby.  Anyway, enough said, we had a diagnosis. 

Sunday morning, I joined Jesus at the hospital again ready to pick up our baby as it was his night shift there.  Shortly after I walked in, so did the Doctor with the good news that Khaleesi could go home!  Her intake finally exceeded her output and we were ready.  She even had the IV out for several hours and still did well.  We now just have to keep a close eye on her at home monitoring the feedings and diapers as well as watching for any signs of dehydration (which I should now sadly be an expert at).  

We have had a tremendous outpouring of love and support from friends and family this week and want to say thank you!  The thoughts, calls, texts and PRAYERS have made all the difference!  Thank you and cheers to a better week ahead!  

Here's a few more pictures of our journey:

So much for this sign...turned out to be Sunday but hey, we will take it!

My Mommy Nightmare

It all started with my little poltergeist baby.  On Monday might my 8 week old projectile spit up her milk like I had never seen before!  It just kept going!  Wow, I guess I overfed her is what I thought.  On Tuesday she had a similar spit up and again, I just assumed she was making the signs saying she wanted food but really wasn't hungry.  Then in the middle of the night on Tuesday she continued with the projecting and added diarrhea to the list.  Now it was no longer an issue of over-feeding and I knew my little baby was sick so I made her a Doctor appointment for Wednesday afternoon.

The doctor said she was about 5% dehydrated and had some kind of stomach virus.  He recommended if she showed more signs of dehydration that I should take her to the ER for an IV.  So I took her home, and she continued to vomit or diarrhea every time she drank and could not keep any food down.  My biggest worry was how would I know if she was at the point of dehydration to need an IV.  The doctor told me what the signs would be and said: "I trust you" when I expressed this concern.  After dinner I saw the signs clearly and Jesus and I rushed our little baby to the ER.  Her eyes were heavy from not sleeping but also looked sunken in from dehydration.  Her coloring was off and she was lethargic.  It was so scary because it was like she changed in an instant from being ok to not and it happened so fast because she's so small and doesn't have any reserve.

Jesus was so excited that she didn't cry when they poked her for the IV but I knew it wasn't good that she didn't cry.  It was because she was too lethargic and dehydrated to even respond and the Doctor confirmed my thoughts.  Then things got worse when they admitted us for the night.  She had a rash all over her body, a fever and needed to be monitored to get rehydrated and needed to be able to keep her milk down at home.  Jesus went home to be with Joaquin and I stayed in the hospital for one of the worst nights of my life.  I laid in the room with my baby and listened to her whine the entire night in pain.  She barely slept and was hungry.  We mixed her milk with Pedialyte but she wasn't drinking nearly as much as normal (which was actually fine because the IV could compensate).  Then the tests began.  My little girl was poked and prodded with blood draws and even a catheter.  She wasn't peeing and the Doctor had to be real with me.  He let me know all the tests were to rule out things like a urine infection, kidney infection (or failure!) and he said depending on the results, they would possibly need a spinal tap to rule out meningitis.  Meningitis?!  Isn't that some crazy disease in the old days like Polio?  Maybe not, but that's what I thought and I was not about to google it and find out!  Thank heavens the tests did not need to go that far.  I couldn't handle my baby screaming and crying anymore so when they put in the catheter, I went downstairs, sat on a bench and cried.  I cried all night in fear and sadness. But later that night, my daughter peed!  I was so upset from not sleeping but when she peed, I no longer cared about sleep and was just so happy her kidneys were working!

Then an hour later, the doctor came in and told me her urine test results were good and she did not have a urine infection.  Her blood work also came back good and we did not need to test for meningitis!  She just had a very bad stomach virus that would run it's course.  This morning, Jesus joined me at the hospital again and he and the missionaries in our area gave our little girl a Priesthood blessing.  The blessing reassured me there was much work for her to do yet on this earth.  Now, was I being a crazy mom all night wondering if she was going to pull through? Maybe but maybe not because what would you think if your doctor said they needed to rule out meningitis and kidney failure for your 8 week old! But the good news is all results have pointed to just a stomach virus and no crazy disease.  A sad battle to fight but only a few days long hopefully.  

Today she looked amazingly better!  Just look at her before and after photo within a matter of hours.

Her rash has cleared up tremendously and her fever has gone down!  She even smiled today and to not see that smile for even just 24 hours was heartbreaking. She's drinking her milk again (still mixed with some Pedialyte) and she worked herself up to her normal dose.  If she holds her milk down all night and all the other symptoms stay away, she will be coming home in the morning and I couldn't be more excited!  So please pray for no negative changes and only improvements.  It was only two nights in the hospital but honestly one of the scariest nights of my life.

Tidbits:

• I had the best nurses and doctors.  So knowledgeable and so sweet!
• When I arrived in our hospital room, the nurse brought me ice cream.
• The grandma nurse was the best who offered to hold my baby without being asked and loved to cuddle her.  Her story about how she doesn't drink much but had four coronas at a wedding and sang karaoke and thought she'd get "whiplash just from her butt," while my baby was getting blood drawn helped to lighten the mood...well...she tried!  
• We went to the ER on my husband's birthday.
• I believe in the Priesthood being restored and on the earth today and am so grateful I have the gift of faith.
• Fingers crossed we are out of the hospital and home in the morning!

Toddler Busy Bag Exchange: Religious Edition

One thing I am grateful for in my life is a group of friends who share a common interest in raising our children to know Christ and the Gospel.  We also share the common interest of getting our small children to sit down and be quiet during church! These commonalities led us to our toddler busy bag exchange: religious edition.  You can see our non-religious related busy bag exchanges here and here!  Be sure to check them out for ideas to keep your little ones busy.

Jess printed pages of different modern day Prophets and Apostles with a giant letter of their last name to help kids with their ABC's, letter sounds and to learn the names of the Prophets.  The kids can decorate each page with all the stickers she included.

Anjela, like so many of us, had a hard time figuring out what to do for a religious busy bag that was in our skill set, affordable or that didn't require a printer so she made us the best long-lasting play-dough with the recipe.

I'm posting this blog too soon because this little photo album is about to become an ABC book using words about the Gospel.  Cami is making us digital files of all the pages including pictures of our own children so once we send her photos of our kids, she will include them in the file and then we can print them off and fill this little photo book.

Kristy made this magnetic puzzle on an adorable tray that can unintentionally double for tea parties. ;)

Mel made this flip book all about Christ and the purpose of the Sacrament and Atonement.  We can show it to the kids during the passing of the bread and water to help them understand why we take it. Here's the link to the printable.

Selena made a matching/memory game with these pictures of prayer, baptism, CTR (choose the right), etc.

I made the "Jesus Loves You" file folder game found here.  Kids get to match the cards of children from all around the world with the matching picture in the folder.

Did some of the vocabulary in this blogpost throw you for a loop?  Prophet, Sacrament, Atonement perhaps?  You can click this "I'm a Mormon" link here or it's always on my blog's homepage to learn more!