Q&A Time

I feel like blogging. But I'm not in the most rested place right now, so I can't think of anything to blog about. So I'm calling on all my readers (all five of you!) to ask my ANYTHING. From the silly, to the serious.... I'll be picking a few questions out and answering them in the next few days.

If you're a lurker, and have never commented, now's your chance! Just click on "comments" and leave an anonymous comment. But please make sure you leave your name too. Maybe I'll discover who a few lurkers are!

Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!

Hosanna!

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Hosanna in the highest!"

Matthew 21:9-10

New babysitters

Adding a baby to our family, while homeschooling, and taking care of the daily things in life has been tough at times. I find myself trying to find a good balance between spending time feeding and loving on Timothy, while devoting enough time to school with Elizabeth, to being with Micah and Benjamin, feeding my family, doing laundry, cleaning the house..... the list goes on and on! There just aren't enough hours in the day!

So I hired a babysitter to entertain the three older children so that I could take care of things around the house or spend the time I need to with Timothy. My new sitters are AMAZING!! I feel like they are already a part of our family, and I wanted to introduce you to them.

Please welcome Tom and Jerry to the Krajca family!!! For Micah's birthday, my mom got him a Tom and Jerry DVD. The boys are especially in love with them. Elizabeth is bother by the fact that there isn't much talking, but is still amused by the hilarious antics.

If you're a worn out mommy, who needs 85 extra minutes in a day, you might consider hiring Tom and Jerry to watch your kids.

Wordless Wednesday

Why so mad, little one?

Why so mad?? Could it have something to do with your missing arm?
Oh!! There it is!

Poor Timothy had his arm pulled into his sleeper and was quite upset about the whole ordeal. I guess he still has some growing to do before this sleeper fits well. :-)

Sunday morning thoughts

This morning, I have the privilege of being home from church with my sweet baby and my sweet two year old, who has a double ear infection. Though it wasn't what I had planned, that's where I am.

While snuggled up on the couch with Benjamin, watching TV, I saw a commercial for a new show. A clip from the show had an older daughter asking a very tired and frazzled looking mom, "Why did you have another kid? Wasn't three enough?"

This morning, after a busy weekend celebrating Micah's birthday, playing hostess to my in-laws, while pouring myself another cup of coffee to combat the sleepiness left over from a rough night, and while getting goo out of my son's ear, I found myself asking the same question of myself. "Wasn't three enough?"

The transition to four has, overall, been fairly smooth. I know a big part of that is because of how much older my kids are than the last time we added a new member to our family. A lot of the ease is because of the fairly easy baby that Timothy is.

Despite the overall smoothness of the transition, I've become very aware of how much one tiny person can change the dynamics of a family. I'm still adjusting to having a baby in the family again. I'm still learning what being a mommy of four young children is like. So on days like today, as I'm pouring my second cup of coffee and looking around at my house that I just can't keep clean, I think of what the very tired frazzled looking mom wittingly told her daughter, "Three kids is for quitters!"

Family pics

My friend Carissa came into town for a day. She's been trying her hand at photography, and I suckered her into trying to get some family pictures of my brood. Though they aren't perfect, I was thrilled with the results! I think it's endearing that the kids are making their silly smiles, or looking at something other than the camera.

Because of Timothy's time in the NICU, there weren't opportunities in the hospital for Curtis and I to get sweet pictures of each other holding our newest addition. And, of course, life hasn't provided many opportunities for photo shoots. Having a pretty picture of us with Timothy was something that I really wanted. And I couldn't be happier about these!

Turning 4

Happy Birthday, Micah!!

Where have the years gone?!? My first son, my sweet Micah, Micah-Moo, Mighty Micah is turning FOUR today!

4 year ago today, Curtis and I welcome our 11lb baby into the world!
3 years ago, we celebrate our sons first birthday.With family by our side, we welcomed the terrible 2's!

And at Chuck E Cheeses we said good bye to the 2's and welcomed a little 3 year old boy.

And now look......

....in the blink of an eye, I've seen my baby turn into a little boy.

Happy birthday, Micah! You are strong, but gentle. Full of passion for life! A sweet brother. I have seen you grow up more and more each day. I pray that you will continue to grow into a godly young man, who loves the Lord with your whole heart. I love you!

Pixie Stitch Boutique

Two friends of mine, Lindsey and Dayna, have started the sweetest business called Pixie Stitch Boutique. And I was blessed enough to receive gifts adorable personalized gifts for Timothy from them. Check out their blog to see all the adorable shirts, onsies, burp rags and more that they can custom make for you!

Big Families

Apparently, my little family of 6 is considered a big family. Who knew!?! When Curtis and I began announcing our pregnancy with Timothy, we heard comments like, "We didn't know you wanted a big family!" or "I love big families like yours!" I thought that big families consisted of at least five kids. But apparently, big families begin at four children.

I recently came across this article. Brilliant! Enjoy the read.

Why big families are easier:

Patience. I never have to teach patience. My children know that I can’t drop everything for them if I have a baby in my arms.

Work Ethic. My children have learned to work because there are always chores to do in a small house packed with little messy lunatics. And they all learn quickly that sometimes they have to clean up a mess even though they didn’t make it.

Humility. My children have learned it’s not always their turn. They’ve accepted they can’t always get their way because other people have to get their way sometimes. They’ve learned that some children are better at certain things than they are.

Foreign language skills. You can learn a lot of Spanish by watching ten years of Dora the Explorer that you just can’t pick up in two. And now with the Diego spin off I’m practically fluent.

Laughter. The children have learned to laugh at the insane non sequiturs of younger siblings. They’ve learned that laughing just feels better when seven people are doing it along with you.

Competition. Do I really need to go into this? Everything is a competition in big families. The children compete over who reads faster, who drinks their milk faster, who gets to the bathroom first…etc. Everything is a competition and they’re all keeping score.

Balance. The floor of the front room of my home is a minefield of toys and childhood paraphernalia. Just walking through the room requires great skill and balance. I’m absolutely convinced my two year old will be a favorite for Gold on the balance beam in the 2016 Olympics. (She might have to lay off the cookies a little but I’ll deal with that later.)

Life isn’t fair. Sometimes you just give it to the baby because you want a little quiet. Not all the time. But sometimes.

Just say “No.” Being able to say “no” may be the most undervalued skill in this world. The need to be liked is pervasive. The need to be cool even more so. Having brothers and sisters teaches children to say “no” about 143 times a day. It’s a good skill.

Praying. They learn that nothing beats praying together as a family.

Nature/Nurture. Having many children has taught me that nature has a lot more to do with who my kids are than nurture. This is helpful, especially when your children misbehave you don’t have to feel bad about it. Just say “Stupid nature!!!” and blame your spouse’s genes.

Namecalling. You can occasionally call your child by the wrong name and still not be considered a terrible parent. They know who you mean just from your tone. Sometimes if you need something done you can call the wrong name and someone will still show up. That helps.

Spying. My children have learned that they can’t get away with anything. I have spies who look a lot like them who are willing to drop the dime on them for anything. Even at school I’ve got a child in just about every grade. If they do something I’ll hear. That keeps them nervous. And I like keeping my kids a little nervous.

Friendship. The children have many friends. They’ve got girly friends, crying friends, fun loving friends, consoling friends, and crazy friends. And they all have the same last name. And they’ll be there forever for each other. No matter what.

Love. I think my children have learned to love because there are others around them to love and who love them. I honestly can think of no better way to teach children to love than siblings.

A wonky Lip

Many fellow bloggers use their blogs as a form of journaling, to record the events that are occurring in their lives. I'm writing this blog to share information, but also to remember the details of life that so easily slip away.... especially in the busy, sleep deprived days of being a new mommy. I'm sure many of you will find this post less than exciting, but I do want to try to remember all the details of Timothy's first few months.

As soon as Timothy was delivered, the doctor commented on his cleft. We were relieved to realize that it was just his lip, and not his palette that was effected by the clefting. Almost immediately, we started receiving information about the process of getting it repaired.

At first, I really didn't care. I was more focused and concerned on getting Timothy out of the NICU, helping him eat well and gain weight, and getting rid of the jaundice that almost put us in the hospital again.

But once the chaos surrounding his early birth cleared, I started doing some research on cleft lips. Between the information for the staff in the NICU, our pediatricians input, and the information on line, I quickly discovered that one of the biggest debates in dealing with a cleft is the timing of the repair. Someone in the NICU told us it would be taken care of around 12 months. Another nurse told us 6 weeks. Our pediatrician said 6 months, and the ENT told us 9-12 months.

A couple weeks ago, we went to the ENT who started us on our journey of cleft repair. He confirmed what we already knew, that Timothy's cleft is very minor. It's actually not even a complete cleft. We were encouraged that this would make the repair process a little easier. Since the cleft was an incomplete cleft, we were referred to plastic surgeon, rather than the cleft team.

Today we met with the plastic surgeon. I left the meeting feeling very informed and I also felt like we had a plan in place.

The plan for now is that we wait for Timothy to get a little bigger. The plastic surgeon said he wants Timothy to be at least 10lbs before the surgery is done. Timothy will have a well visit with our pediatrician on April 4th, and another visit with the plastic surgeon on April 8th.

The surgery will most likely take place between April and August. The surgeon encouraged us that taking care of it sooner, rather than later, will help aid the minimizing of the scar. He did mention that many children who have clefts are at a higher chance of needing tubes put in their ears. Considering both Micah and Benjamin have had tubes, I was already expecting Timothy to need tubes at some point anyway. If possible, the plastic surgeon would want to time Timothy's cleft repair for the same time as tubes would go in.

I learned today that the surgery will be more involved than I was expecting. We've been through several surgeries with our kiddos. We've had the minor tube placements to Benjamin's major craniotomy. I was anticipating the cleft repair surgery to be similar to the surgery of getting tubes put in..... go in, surgery, 2 hours later you head home. However, we learned that the surgery will last 1-2 hours, and that there is a good chance we might have to spend the night in the hospital. Even though Timothy's cleft is incomplete, the surgery to repair it is just like a complete cleft repair. Since there's extensive work being done on his lip, and because he is getting all of his nutrition by sucking, he will be closely monitored for dehydration, which is why we might have to spend the night.

I also learned that this may not be the only repair surgery Timothy will face. When he's school age, he might need to have his lip done again. And then depending on how his nose is growing, he might need rhinoplasty right about the time he hits adolescents.

We've been asked, "Why not just leave it?" And after hearing about how involved the surgery is, and how he might face more surgeries, I've thought about just leaving it. I think Timothy is beautiful, and his lip is sweet and endearing. But then I think about 13 year old Timothy. Imagine having an obvious defect while dealing with all the other "excitements" of adolescents. I also think of 22 year old Timothy, going for job interviews. Though I hope and pray he is a grounded, godly man, surrounded by strong, godly people, odds are he will be judged first by his appearance. This is his smile! His first impression. And even though this isn't going to be quite as simple as I originally though, I feel more confident that we are making the right decision by doing the repair surgery.

Early Wordless Wednesday

Momma said there'd be days like this

Timothy's nights are mostly good. But he is a baby, so we have bad nights in there too. Last night wasn't a bad night, but it for sure wasn't a good night!

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed, ready to get a start on what I was hoping would be a great week! My sister, Shannon, has been here since last Wednesday, and is leaving early this Wednesday morning. I'm trying to prepare for life with four kids, all alone, and was hoping that today would be the start of a great week.

I got this sweet boy up..... and began changing his diaper. Then he went potty all over the place. Of course. But I wasn't going to let that little incident get to me. It was the first day of a great week!

Then he did it again AND pooped all over the place. I began to have a bad feeling about my supposedly great week.

I headed to the kitchen to make a wonderful breakfast of homemade banana muffins. I was greeted by the smell of fresh coffee, was reminded how thankful I was for my sweet husband, and got my second wind.

Apparently, my second wind came in the form of a little too much enthusiasm. While I was making the muffins, I spilled vegetable oil ALL over the kitchen floor.

I decided to tone down my enthusiastic expectations, and just make it through the morning.

Eventually, I was able to start accomplishing my goal. Breakfast was great! The playroom got cleaned! School was started! The baby was fed and changed several times!! Yay!

This afternoon, Elizabeth and I had an encounter. Not a good one! I showed her mercy and sent her to dance despite her behavior. Benjamin and Timothy were sleeping, and Micah was my big helper. I was able to do some cleaning and general picking up.

Unfortunately, while doing the picking up, I accidentaly knocked this picture off the mantle.


Is it too late to go to bed and try again tomorrow morning?