Shot my first possum!

I know what most of you want to say when you see this picture... Go ahead and say it... "NASTY!" I would too, but this time I was the proud hunter (not proud enough to actually hold it myself, though. YUK).

Noah, after much protest to being sent out in the dark to collect our eggs (he forgot to do it earlier), came bursting in... "Mom, there's a possum in the hen house! It's in the nesting box!" Paul was out buying a new dishwasher after ours died, so it was up to me to do something with this egg thief. Seth volunteered to shoot it with his bb gun, but my wisdom said it would probably just get mad, so Noah and I went out armed with a baseball bat, a golf club and a head-lamp (one of those flashlights that you rubberband to your forhead). We also took Lady, our fierce possum hunting Blue-Heeler. We showed Lady where it was, but being that it saw her too, the possum tried to bite her every time she went to grab it. And bing I wasn't about to get into a baseball bat fight with a possum in a 4X8 foot hen house, I decided to go back in and get our gun. The possum was still in the same spot when I got back, and seeing it's bared teeth and hearing it growl at me, I didn't feel one bit sorry for shooting it. Clean up was left for my dear husband who tossed it in the road-side ditch of the field next door. That IS where many possums end up anyway, right?

I have to say that my boys were quite proud of their momma today (so was my hubby), and I was glad to get rid of our plump, trespassing egg-eater.

20 days to go!!!

Whoa, I just looked at my Lilypie counter (on the right of my blog) and it announced that I have only 20 days to go! It's actually more like 28-30 days in my pregnancies, but there's always a possibility of being on time, right? ...(yeah, right). On a side note, does going overdue coincide with always being late in regular life? Hmmmm... I'll have to do some surveys on that one.

Back to the topic at hand... Even though I've chosen to have my last few babies at home, it's certainly not to escape the pain-free epidural that most pregnant women choose in the latter stage of labor. In fact, I can distinctly remember the pain of labor, and then the pain of pushing and it makes me want to crawl into bed and cry. Some of the women I know actually enjoy labor as it was meant to be (painful), and find it somewhat empowering. I just look at them and cringe. But, here I am once again getting ready for a shoot-out with one of my biggest fears within the next month and am NOT looking forward to it. I am officially starting my positive-thinking mode and working on convincing myself that God made labor survivable and the end result is worth the effort. To encourage myself, I am doing a couple things different this time in hopes of an easier labor... I borrowed a birthing pool (not necessarily to have a water birth, but I've found that the warm water soothes the contrations and our tub is too shallow). I'm also going to start taking GLA (aka Gamma-linolenic Acid found in Borage Seed/Evening Primrose Oil-it has natural prostiglandins in it that supposedly does things to get the body ready for a faster and, hopefully, sooner birth).

As for the baby status... I'm measuring 39 weeks along (I'm 37 weeks), and each of my boys measured around 2 weeks or so farther along (just like this one), while each of my girls measured right on or just under their appropriate week measurement. He/she is head down, getting crowded (which I can tell everytime he/she decides to stretch), and is anxiously waiting to meet the ones that are making all that noise on the outside of my womb, just like they are for him/her.

Gracie's ear dilemma

This last half of the year, Gracie has been battling ear infections just about every month. Her first one was around July and I tried any natural remedy that I could think of (garlic oil, grapefuit seed extract, a warm onion cut in half, heating pad...). Nothing seemed to work so we went to a Minute Clinic at a corner pharmacy and, of course, they gave her the typical dose of antibiotics... internal and drops to put in the ear. After a day of hesitating before giving them to her, we followed through with the routine 10-day dosage. It worked... until she got it back a month later.

This time, I tried to wait it out and see what happened. I still tried the natural stuff along with Children's Motrin at night. After a while, her ear popped and drained. I had read up on it and knew that it was not a big deal because it was draining the infection out. It relieved her pain, but within a week, it healed up and started hurting once more. Then, it popped... again. Now I was starting to wonder if this would continue and she would end up with scarring and permanent hearing loss, so I took her to another immediate care... and he prescribed antibiotics. I was looking for a cause, not a quick cure. He insisted that if I didn't give them to her, she would probably end up with some Strep infection in the brain and die... Whatever. What really irritated me what that he was like 10 years younger than me (probably with no kids and even less experience) AND he was a physician's assistant, not a doctor. He spent a half hour surfing the web to find information to print to confirm his doomsday prophecy, while I was waiting not-so-patiently with 4 little kids in his 4 by 8 exam room. I filled the prescription anyhow and after a couple days of sitting in limbo (and Grace being in pain), I gave in. And, hey, what do you know? It worked... for another month.

I've tried ear candles (which seemed to work temporarily), purchased homeopathic tablets specifically for ear infections, and bought probiotics to build back her good bacteria. I'm done with over prescribed antibiotics (that aren't working anyhow). Even after all that, her ear popped once again this week, and then the other ear started hurting. I was at a complete loss and totally clueless on what to do next. I talked to a few friends and decided to go radical... nutritionally. We juiced carrots and apples which, along with rose hip tea- (full of vitamin C), is what she got all day. I dosed up every cup of juice with probiotics, colloidal silver, and Acerola powder (another rich source of Vitamin C from cherries). By the end of the day, her pain was starting to subside. In addition, I've cut her off of all dairy (which I had been doing for a while) along with all wheat (the most likely allergens). Whatever was causing the irritation seems to be going away. She doesn't have any more ear pain, but she can't hear very well yet. I'm guessing there's still some swelling and fluid that needs to drain. Time will tell if we've solved the root of the problem...

Through it all, she's been a trooper. She realizes that she can't eat what everyone else eats and for the most part is ok with it. And with all the hearing problems, she's getting really good at lip reading. Who know's, maybe she'll be the next Annie Sullivan (Helen Keller's teacher). :)

Bittersweet

Noah, Brennen, Evan, Caleb and Seth

Ella, Grace, Kaeley, and Ellie

Ok, I'm out of the rut I was stuck in with the last blog and onto brighter days. I gave myself a little attitude adjustment and the rest of the week went much smoother. The Anderson's left early Sunday morning and we are spending this week getting back to some sort of routine. When it's all said and done, I can say that I did enjoy our time with them. The kids loved spending hours and hours every day with Brennen, Evan, Kaeley and Ella. For the most part, they played very well together (although the Anderson's could use another kid or two to even out the playmates). It's Monday now, and I can see that the constant activity of the past two weeks is taking it's toll. The kids aren't sure what to do with themselves and they "miss the Anderson's". On the other hand, the house volume level has been turned down a few notches...

I am learning the full meaning of the phrase... "parting is such sweet sorrow"

Master juggler... sometimes.

There it is... add it to my list of occupations. You know, along with chauffeur, chef, nurse, cleaning lady, baker, psycologist, doctor, teacher, and the list goes on.... I have been thinking this week that I am a master juggler. Unlike the clown in the picture, I have six balls that I am currently keeping in the air (add in Paul, and you're up to seven). For the most part, I am in a regular groove and am preparing to add one more to my juggling skills within the next month or so. It'll throw things off for a bit (usually about 6 months) until I can get my rhythm back... but it will eventually come back.

Why have I been contemplating juggling skills this past week, you ask? Well, whenever I have things that disrupt my routine (and yes, even though I don't have a "schedule", there is still order and routines to my day :), it's hard to keep all of my objects in the air. This past week (and for the next 5 days or so) we've had family visiting with us. They are friends of ours who moved to Colorado 5 years ago. Every year, they come back to visit and stay with us. Every year, it seems to get a bit harder (except for the year I had a 2 week old. That was the pits).

Maybe it's because I'm 8 months pregnant and have a subconscious need to start nesting and relaxing before the baby comes... I'm not sure, but out of necessity (because of my attitude over the last week), I have taken some time to do some inward self-examination. It's funny how you don't know what's inside of you until you get bumped or squeezed. Then, good or bad, it gets spilled out. Ugh, the stuff I've found... selfishness, critical thoughts, irritability... have made me painfully aware of my inadequacites. Now the challenge is to become moldable. I realize that God uses all things for our good and His desire is to make us more like Him. I also understand that if I am not willing to let Him mold me with the easier challenges, it seems like the challenges get harder until He is finally able to break our will. Though the urge is to sulk, my challenge (and my true desire) is to stay soft and moldable instead of hardening my heart to what God is doing.