Potty

Vienne asked why drinking water makes her go potty. I told her that when you drink water it fills up your belly until it can't hold it any longer and then you have to go potty. What goes in must come out. So, then every time she took a sip she looked down and felt her potty to see if it was leaking! heheheh

I had to reassure her that it will wait a while to fill up and then she will feel the potty urge to empty it out. :)

boogers

this monday morning...after I've returned from a women's retreat all weekend:

Vienne: Daddy told me to put my boogers on my pants

Me: What? No. That's gross. We only put boogers on tissues. Daddy did not tell you that.

Vienne: Yes! Yes he did! Dadda told me so!

Me: Well, I'm going to talk to him about that.

I text Mark: You teaching our daughter to wipe boogers on her clothes?

Mark: Yeah! That's my girl! What a memory!

Me: Gross! Thanks a lot!

Mark: I really did not teach her that. But she sure is creative.

Great. Now she's wandered into making up stories. And, using scapegoats!

The Pox

poor girl came down with the chickenpox this past week. whew, fun times! it started with one fluid-filled blister on her belly and i had NO idea what it was. by that afternoon, i noticed that her appetite was pretty much gone and she was exhausted. i put her down for a nap an hour early and she slept for 2.5 hours. when she woke the poor thing had a 103.2 fever. of course, we knew something was wrong. after a very rough night of hot sleep for her, i was able to take her in to the doctor the next morning. she had a few more blisters and was still HOT. he wasn't exactly certain what it was just yet....chickenpox or some strange strain of impetigo since i had just recovered from an outbreak. he loaded us up with some home remedies and strict instructions to keep him informed 2x a day about the development of her illness. after an email from mark's cousin claiming that her daughter broke out w/the chickenpox that same day, i was certain that was it (since we just spent an entire week on the east coast together!). thursday was another warm day for vienne, while her body produced more and more blisters. by friday, the storm of it all hit. HARD. new crops of sores had developed on her arms and legs and scalp and by noon she was in PAIN. never itchy this whole time....just sheer pain on each sore developed. It. Was. Horrible. as it quickly progressed, i couldn't touch her one bit. she wouldn't wear clothes, i couldn't hold her, caress her, or even set her on a chair. she was so upset that she refused any kind of medicine, topically or orally. i thought the oatmeal bath might soothe it but standing in it, made her scream. i eventually got her in a loose pair of soft undies and made a very soft cushion area on her bed to sit against. she sat in bed, sucked on a homemade popsicle and watched a movie...calming down.

we have found an INCREDIBLE doctor - naturopath/chiropractor. dr. chris. he would quickly respond to every update email i sent him. i had sent him one that morning of the painful sores, informing him that she had had a very rough night of sleep (we weren't aware of her pain yet since she was so deliriously tired). once he read that email, learning that things had changed slightly for the worse, he wanted to talk on the phone immediately. by the time i called him, that's about the same time her intense pain had set in. he was concerned and asked a TON of questions, trying to determine the correct homeopathic remedy. he wanted her to have it right away, so offered to make himself available at his next clinic that day, closer to our home. mark ran over and retrieved it. Antimonium Crudum. The Life Saver. after just 20 minutes of giving her a dose, she made a huge 180 turn around. just like that!! the pain was subsided, she was cheery and running around w/energy again...just like the little girl we know.

by the next day, everything seemed back to normal...except she just had chickenpox bumps all over. the itchies set it (mildly) though no more new crops popped up. over the next few days the slight itchies completely subsided and the sores started to scab over. quick!!

i was actually afraid that it was too quick! i emailed dr. chris my concern - why weren't more spots forming, as is typical of the chickenpox? why weren't they itching her to death? did enough blisters form to warrant chickenpox?...she was covered, but definitely not in 300 like the literature claims. but he sent me a very encouraging email that gave me such confidence in the choices we have made to do everything naturally for her! he said that once we found the right remedy for her, it helped her body to turn everything around while boosting her immune system. in his experience, along w/200 yrs. of documented literature, it has been discovered that with the right remedy the child is able to move through the illness more easily and recover more quickly, all with a stronger immune system and not one return or renewed susceptibility to the epidemic. how triumphant i feel that we suffered through just one very rough day and then were able to turn what was proving to be a difficult case into a very mild one ... all with natural remedies! God's medicine certainly is the BEST!

Here's a list of what we did...just so that I can look back and remember when we have to go through it again with child #2!

-Children's Glycerite - for the immune system.

-Vitamin A - an anti-viral. Started w/a high dose of 10 drops first day, down to 5 drops the 2nd and 3 drops the next two.

-Pulsatilla homeopathic remedy - this is Vienne's constitutional remedy. Our next child might need something different.

-Antimonium Crudum - for the pain and severe mood changes/irritability. Initial dose was 2 pellets. Then we followed up, on need only basis, with a dilution of this remedy.

-Raw honey on the sores for about 30 minutes.

-Oatmeal baths, which also washed the honey off.

-Made a homemade natural version of "Calamine Lotion", using the leftover oatmeal goo mixed w/baking soda.

-Aloe vera was also soothing

-Constitutional hydrotherapy for the fever.

-Bone broth soup and homemade organic juice popsicles for sores in the mouth.

And, if anyone else happens to stumble across this blog, I hope this helps for it was miraculous for us!!

Praying through stubbornness

Good grief, God is so cool. It's just the little things, ya know?
I made a healthy scrumptious meal for Vienne - things she loves, hidden w/vegetables in the tomato sauce. I was so excited to successfully hide these veggies, until V stared at it and refused to eat. She sat there through our entire dinner w/that typical stubborn child's scowl. Finally, after many failed persuasions, the light turned on.

I asked her if she would like to pray to Jesus for help to eat. She said yes. We held hands and we prayed. And then, she took her first bite. Just like that...with FULL confidence that God was now going to help her. After that, she devoured the entire place, telling us how much she loved it...and telling Dadda to stop sneaking bites!! WOW.

The tenderness of a child's heart toward the Lord is speaking to me louder than most messages. I sat with tears in my eyes, realizing that we triumphed over her stubbornness w/prayer. (...and that her faith is so much stronger than my own!)

Praying through stubbornness has actually worked for us in the past (which is a RARE thing...so it was a few months ago!). Took me a while to remember to call on the Lord..but I'm still learning too! :)

being wooed

at play group every friday, vienne has a little man that she follows after, named michael. he is a year older and full of spunk and clever mischief. they are absolutely darling together.

while us moms were congregated with our coffees in the living room, i noticed vienne and michael sneaking into the garage (his house). i let them play privately for a few minutes before checking in on them. finally, i decided to take a peak. i opened the door to a tiny little garage w/one car squeezed in and did not see our two little ones. looking around the car, under the car, i called out "where are you?!". "here, mama!" what?! oh my good grief, i finally looked INside the car to discover the two of them sitting in there like little adults - michael in the driver's seat, v in the passenger. michael has found the keys and only turned them far enough in the ignition to unroll the windows and turn the music on. they were quietly sitting in there together, enjoying slow romantic tunes. i nearly keeled over in laughter! it was the cutest most hilarious (and potentially scary!) sight! i said he is cleverly mischievous, no?!

gotta keep an eye on that one cuz this little girl will follow him wherever he will go!

haha.

don't be angry

"Don't be angry Mama. It's ok. God will make you happy."

Love.

things she said

We were at the beach. Mark took her for a morning walk and she wanted to be carried.

Mark: "oh geez, I should've brought the stroller."

Vienne: "oh, Jesus brought the stroller?!!"

We've got her so well trained with her manners (most of the time) that sometimes I wonder if she sounds like she's abused in order to behave so well! This morning as I sat down with my breakfast, she looked over at it and said:

"May I share your bagel, please?"

"May have I little bites, please?"

good grief. it even shocks me sometimes.

right now, everything she says is prefaced with "maybe".

"maybe we can eat dinner on the couch and watch cars?? yeah??"

"maybe i can get a treat?!"

"maybe we can go to scarbucks?"

and finally...

we've officially got a make believe friend in our home. her name is Ty. she is 3 and two minutes old. she has brown hair and green eyes and "pretty just like me", vienne says. oh, and she's nice "just like mommy and daddy". she's been talked about for a few weeks now, but not made an actual "appearance" until this evening. mark says they were in the garage and she engaged in a full conversation with her friend ty about goldfish crackers. enlightening! the entire "ty thing" began one day in a goodwill dressing room when vienne suddenly said "mama, do you remember my friend ty?!" hahahah oh how i love it!!

here is a picture of our darling girl bravely wielding her sword. i think it gives her confidence in new situations. she cracks us up!