Death by Grapefruit?

Yesterday we were having Christmas with my mom and dad, and got up and enjoyed a lovely breakfast, which ended with a half a grapefruit for each of us. Right after I ate it my mouth started itching, then my throat felt irritated. Then my stomach started burning, and I got a blister on the side of my mouth... within a couple of hours we were in the urgent care - I was covered in hives and itching from head to toe and bright red all over - quite the freak show in the waiting room! When they examined me my pulse was up to 157. They gave me a shot of benadryl, cortisone, and epinepherin and within minutes I felt much much better. The doc said I should avoid all citrus and prescribed an epi pen for any future reactions and two other meds, I guess to prevent a future reaction. It's so strange how these things apparently can show up so quickly. I'd been eating oranges and orange juice regularly before this, even the day before, with no problem. I wonder if it's not really the grapefruit, but something on the grapefruit, such as a pesticide. Time will tell I guess!

So, praise God for easy access to health care! I was also very thankful that even with all these medications I was still able to continue nursing Caleb no problem. They said I might have a lower milk supply but that has not seemed to be a factor so far. I am very glad that this didn't happen while I was home alone with the boys, but rather with Matt and both grandparents there to help out. All in all I think I can live just fine without grapefruit - now chocolate would have been another story!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

My favorite quote from today: (Ian, while squeezing my leg in a big hug) "I'm just always lovin you mama"

Well we're making some "headway" with potty training. It seems that Ian has figured out that when you feel like you've got to go, you take off your pants and diaper. This is most helpful when I am holding or nursing the baby, and he does so before climbing onto his "Bob the Builder" potty seat. This is not so helpful when it happens in the middle of the night and we don't know about it until morning. I'm not sure how exactly to wash a stuffed dog that is the same size as Ian.

We had a very enjoyable holiday - we've had about six days of Christmas now with all the different family members and Ian has been a trooper - sometimes getting a bit overwhelmed and overexcited (he kept his grandparents up from 2-4 a.m. while staying at their house, even managing to get himself a breakfast cooked about 3 a.m.)

Some of our favorite gifts: a beautiful storybook for Caleb called "Room for a Little One" and two songbooks/CDs from one of our favorite children's authors, Sandra Boynton. We had Ian dancing to the Spin Doctors this morning with one of them - what fun! Ian of course loves his new basketball hoop and ball and his big black dog that we've decided to name "Sirius Black".

My Paycheck

One of the greatest joys of life for us right now is hearing our boys talk. Caleb at 11 weeks is just cooing and gurgling at us, but Matt and I both are often reduced to completely moronic behavior just to elicit one of his huge grins or noises.

Ian on the other hand shocks us every day with the concepts he understands and things he remembers. At just over 2 years old he is already singing Christmas songs, reciting most of his favorite books from memory, and asking questions such as, "Did you know Grandpa is married?" (this was closely followed by "I'm married to Uncle Nick" and "I'm married to Aunt Bekah") The other day I really got my payday as a stay at home mom. He'd had sort of a cranky morning and I was helping him get back into his chair at the breakfast table again when he turns to me and says, "Mama, I like that you listen to me. You're nice. You listen to me."

Other recent Ian quotes:
"you look handsome in those pants mama!"
(while drinking hot chocolate) "mmm, I can feel it in my tummy!" (followed by lifting up his shirt and rubbing his belly)
"I'm going to ride this armadillo to the beach mommy"
"I'm eating groceries"

hello world

Who knows if I will really have the time to keep up with this (probably only when I should be sleeping) but I really enjoy my friends' blogs and have thought for some time I should post one myself. Mainly this will make it easier for me to share Ian and Caleb stories to those who are interested!

At church two weeks ago (this is the first chance I've had to write about it!) we were discussing the ways we allow division to enter into our families. Typically we fall into bad habits in our family dynamics slowly - it starts with little things that later snowball. The point was if we know the truths of Scripture and how to apply those to our relationships we can avoid more serious problems because hopefully we'll recognize and "nip" those little things before they become habit. I started thinking about respecting Matt with my words; making sure I'm lifting him up even in family anecdotes that I share with friends. Since Caleb's birth I've not been doing such a great job with that whenever folks ask how nighttime sleep is going... it's hard for me not to get bitter when he appears to sleep all night long every night and it's been months since I've actually felt rested. Anyway I realized that I need to stop faulting the guy for not having the ability to breastfeed! Okay, it's usually not that obviously ridiculous, but I do need to stop taking my sleep deprivation out on Matt... clearly if he could give me sleep he would!

One of those questions I will be asking God someday in heaven (I ask Him now too, but am not guaranteed an answer until then!): Why did you create moms to need just as much sleep as dads, but only equip us to breastfeed? If sleep and breastfeeding are both the best thing for all of us, why do they seem to be mutually exclusive?