30 days...

I lasted 30 days...  I could probably push myself for two more weeks but I'm not.  I intentionally stayed off of a couple of Facebook groups as well as took the Facebook ap off of my phone beginning September 1st.  Anyway, a handful of things I've learned/found over the last 30 days:

I expected to feel a lot more "lonely" without Facebook.  As a stay at home mom, I often find myself feeling lonely, even with two cuties running around.  I would just be desiring more "adult time", time to connect with my husband or a friend.  Surprisingly I just found myself more busy (or one could say productive) which hasn't been a super horrible thing.


Facebook did not aid nor hinder my non-"social" qualities, it is solely just me and my introverted-ness.  I thought I would be more intentional in connecting with loved ones, but like I said above I just found myself more busy.  It's embarrassing to admit, but when on Facebook regularly I would just look at a friend/family members profile or latest status and find myself oddly satisfied with "connecting" even though there was really no connection.  Something I definitely still need to work on, but now am totally aware of this broken system I personally have.

It's apparent to me Facebook is addicting.  Pure and simple.

Prayer time...  I've never been a wake up early or stay up late intentional prayer or studier.  But I have found myself being more intentional praying/talking with God throughout my days when I had thought I was already that way before.  I can confidently say I am even more so now.

Routine and rhythm, I've learned I actually enjoy being a homemaker.  I've always known that I enjoyed being a mom, but an actual homemaker.  This is going to sound completely bogus, but I've found myself enjoying cleaning and organizing, finding ways to clean areas of our home that haven't been cleaned in months AND I no longer completely hate folding clothes...  I just hate how much laundry there is in general.  I still have troubles with meal planning, but that's because my heart is set on a much healthier living style than our meager grocery budget can afford, but I do try my best to incorporate what I can.  It all comes down to, I actually feel capable in my role.  And I'm okay with some days being cleaner than others...  Because truth is, I have two little boys.

It's been an interesting experience to be away from Facebook.  I feel silly even writing an update on it or needing to actually take a break in the first place.  I've found it to be a healthy choice for me and actually really freeing.  I think it's safe to say I will occasionally take Facebook breaks to kind of keep myself in check, they probably won't be nearly as long though.  I'm hoping to incorporate new healthy boundaries including keeping it off my phone and to continually work on the things I had hoped to work on while "away".  

Somebody is 1 today!

Happy birthday to this dark haired nugget turned blondie!

I can not believe Owen is one today.  His first year has absolutely FLOWN by.  We have been completely blessed with the happiest, most sweet little man.  Tomorrow we will celebrate with local family and a handful of close friends.  I've got some serious bake going on today, trying my hand in cake pop making and have been inspired by me dear friend Sara to make cupcakes from scratch...  But have asked her to frost them still as she is much better at that than I ;)  We will also be dedicating Owen tomorrow, something we felt special to do on his (and Leroy's) first birthday.  

I didn't realize how out of focus this was when taking this video...  But Leroy has been adamant for weeks that he wants to get Owen a Cupcake with a candle for his birthday. It's really sweet :) 

Happy Birthday Sweet Little Man!  Mommy and Daddy are crazy about you!

Facebook Fast & Updates

Weeks ago JL and I decided we were going to start a 45 day Facebook Fast/Break beginning September 1st, and for multiple reasons.  Mainly for times sake, giving us more intentional time together and with the boys, to find a better rhythm around the house as a family, Leroy was beginning a handful of appointments with dr's at Children's, and to give us more time in our days for intentional prayer and study.  But we didn't, as the day before we were going to start both JL and I posted status' pleading for your prayers for Owen, so our idea got pushed by the wayside and we used Facebook to gather our support team and prayers for our family and share updates.  You see early afternoon on August 31st, Owen had his first seizure.  We were at the Evergreen State Fair, and really we were on our way out as we had already spent a few hours there and we all were tired.  Shortly before leaving Owen woke up from a nap in the stroller and was kind of fussy, so I decided to wear him in the baby carrier.  We were a few yards from the exit and I noticed Owen was staring up at the sky, but I couldn't catch his glance, it's like he was looking straight through me.  The next thing I know his whole body tensed up for a brief moment and he then went limp and started seizing.  I have never experienced any sort of feelings like those that ran through me during those 5+ minutes.  We spent a few hours in the Emergency Room having Owen be monitored, they ran a few tests and everything came back normal.  We were released under the impression he had a Febrile Seizure and would need to follow up with our pediatrician at the beginning of the following week.

Just short of three hours after being released and 15 minutes before his next dose of Tylenol (to keep his fever down), Owen was seizing again.  I don't know what freaked me out most, his first seizure and not having any idea why my littlest guy was seizing, or the fact that from what we understood it's not common to have two Febrile Seizures in one day...  We went straight back in to the Emergency Room and Owen was under evaluation for a much longer period of time.  We then were told to follow up with the pediatrician the next day.  Which we did...  Our visit at the pediatrician's office was a little repetitive of information on Febrile Seizures, but very reassuring.  The pediatrician did mention that since Owen had two seizures within a 24 hour period, he would be categorized in a Complex Febrile Seizure group, which basically means, he will have more as fevers come and go.  Great thing is, children with Febrile Seizures grow out of them around age 6.  Even though these seizures are not known to have any lasting effects or cause any harm, they still are frightening.  We have been referred to a Neurologist with Children's Hospital and have an appointment set for early November but are on a wait list if anything opens up between now and then.

All of this was kind of the icing on the cake, as Leroy has been having hives and diarrhea daily for 10+ weeks.  He's been through what feels like a ton of dr's appointments with a bunch of blood testing, stool sampling and scratch testing already and the only things that have come up are an allergy to cats, and a high Eosinophil level...  Eosinophil's are a particular white blood cell, which with as high as they are coming up in Leroy means his little body is in constant inflammation.  He's been tested for a whole gamut of things from allergies (food and environmental) to a parasite, Lupus to Rheumatoid Arthritis...  And just about anything in between that has to do with this high white blood cell count.  We've been referred to specialists at Children's Hospital, a GI Dr, which we saw just last week for the first time and a Hematologist which we saw today.  Today we learned that Leroy's Eosinophil levels have lowered, which is FABULOUS news.  They are still to be considered elevated, but the fact that they've lowered means nothing serious is going on.  The Hematologist doesn't think we need to continue to see them regularly but to just follow up with the allergist and our pediatrician at this point.  Idiopathic Hives have come up in a bunch of different conversations with all of these dr's we've seen.  None have diagnosed Leroy with those, but I wouldn't be surprised if it comes down to it.  Idiopathic Hives are just as they sound, idiocy, they are hives for no particular reason but they just come and go.

As for the Facebook "Break"...  Knowing how much of my time I let it suck up, I hope to be okay with "returning" only one day a week ("Facebook Fridays" suggested by my dear & wise friend Kelly) when all is said and done, or really to just break the habit of clicking refresh every few minutes throughout the day to see what else is new...  Maybe it's a stay at home mom thing, wanting connection with the outside world or adult interaction throughout the day, or maybe it's just a me thing.  Either way, I hope to be able to reorganize my priorities by putting my family, friends and my home before a social networking site.  I really do like my husband and babies more than Facebook, although, I'm sure they might feel different about it at times.

In unrelated news, we had a mini photo session with a local photographer Kristina Marie Photography and here are a few of my favorites :)

5 Months!

So Tuesday my sweet, smiley boy officially turned 5 months old...  

It's absolutely crazy to think that much time has passed by already, although I couldn't imagine life without him.  

In his fifth month he has mastered the art of rolling, both from tummy to back and back to tummy.  I set him down on the floor one minute and the next he has successfully rolled to the other side of the room!

He also is doing really well with sitting unassisted.  He may still hunch over and topple over after awhile, but in no-time he'll be a pro! 

And lastly, as you may have seen in the previous post, he L-O-V-E-S his feet!  Whether he's sitting or laying he is enamored with them.

That's my sweet baby, all 5 months of him...

P.S.  I love his cheeks...

Toes are Tasty Treats!

If you're on Facebook, you may have seen this picture that I posted yesterday...

Well, here's something even better...

It seems like just about every day Leroy learns something new.  Whether it's a developmental milestone or something quirky and cute such as this.  

{Enjoy!}

More cute pics I took of Leroy yesterday, can be found HERE.

Inspector Gadget {Cue Music}

I know full well I'm a new mother and have regular reminders...  So I expect my role to be a little of everything here and there.  But Inspector Gadget wasn't one that was anticipated.  This last week or two I've been playing the guessing game daily with each new "ailment" Leroy has expressed.  Between runny poo, no poo, red puffy eyes, rash on face and diaper area, stuffy nose, stinky gas and what sounds like a fake cough.  At what point do you take all symptoms and lump them in to one sickness?  Or do you take each symptom and figure out what it means on it's own account?  I went from thinking Leroy was allergic to the cats, to possibly a dairy sensitivity, to infant eczema with a stuffy nose & raunchy gas, to "I'm completely confused and have absolutely no idea..."

What did our parents ever do before us with NO INTERNET?!  The good ol' WWW has been my sanity saver.  With it, I at least was able to come up with a hypothesis or two and test my theory.  I vacuumed all the kitty fur a couple days in a row (it was short-lived) and found his symptoms didn't subside.  I removed all dairy from my diet, and I mean ALL dairy (Did you know dairy is in just about everything, even Soy Cheese!  I ventured and purchased Vegan Cheddar Cheese...  It wasn't horrible, smelt and tasted very similar to Kraft Mac 'n Cheese)... In turn, Leroy stopped poo-ing.  We went to his pediatrician, they were very nice and weren't in the least bit concerned of it being anything serious.  I was encouraged to keep dairy out of my diet for a little while and slowly add it back in.  Leroy's diaper rash and eczema were treated and, yes, he has finally pooed!

All this to say, here's what I've learned...  It will most likely be a [very] regular thing that I not know exactly what is wrong with Leroy, but if I can make him any bit comfortable during the process that's a step in the right direction of being the mom he needs me to be! 

Now, if only I had Penny & Brain the Dog's help...  I may have come to this conclusion much quicker!

{Picture: Leroy at 6 Days Old}

Check, 1, 2... Is this thing on??

Blogging has always intrigued me... I mean, just about anything you can think of is blogged about... Hobbies, Business, Entertainment, Family and oh so much more. My favorite, food or craft blogs and especially my friends blogs about their family and the goings on in "their world". Anyway, take this as my pseudo introduction, in which I hope to share my craftiness, wannabe foodie-ness and my adventures of being... Mrs. Mom.

And now, some of my favorite things...