Thursday, June 3, 2010

Amber Beads


Many of you have asked about Cai's little necklace he's been sporting. I have intentionally neglected to respond because I wanted to give it some time.

So, for all you curious readers out there, let me shed some light on the subject. I think I've given it enough time;)

Micaiah had just completed a second round of antibiotics (that is 20 days of drugs ya'll) for severe double ear infections when we found out that he is allergic to Penicillin and the doctors wanted to get him on yet another antibiotic because his infections persisted.

Not only was he in pain from his infections, but he was teething as well. This kid's teeth take FOREVER to come through the gums and he had been miserable.

On top of that he has still been battling his enflamed lungs which make it difficult for him to breathe.

Then, I read THIS BLOG by my friend, Rita. She had just gotten an Amber Teething Necklace for her daughter. My first reaction to stuff like this is a, "Yeah right" and then I roll my eyes. But she had been reluctant to tell anyone because she wasn't sure if it was really going to work. It did for her!

This necklace reminded me of another friend who had gotten each one of her kids one of these amber bead necklaces for their allergies. She swears by those necklaces.

So, now I was really curious, and like I said earlier, desperate!

I did a little research and then went on Etsy and ordered one for Cai. I felt like it couldn't get here soon enough!

The day it came in the mail I put it around his neck immediately. (He wears it 24/7 and NO I'm not worried that he'll choke or that he'll break it. He doesn't even play with it and each bead is individually knotted on the necklace so if it were to break only 1 bead would be loose.) Four days later I still hadn't seen a change. I had been giving him garlic oil ear drops religiously every morning and hadn't taken the necklace off once, but still no change. He was still fussy and clingy. I was about to give in and go pick up his antibiotic from CVS (who were very good about calling me to let me know they were irritated, I mean, uh, to remind me that it had been sitting there for almost a week).

On day five we had a break through. He wasn't fussy. He sat on the floor and played all by himself. He laughed. He wasn't tugging on his ears. He was eating normal meals. I had my happy Micaiah back. It was awesome.

He had another tooth break through on his top gums a week or so ago and I think another one will pop through in the next couple of days and he's been great!

Here is what the Amber Beads are supposed to do:
reduce teething pain
reduce skin rashes
reduce eczema
reduce respiratory problems
improve sleep patterns
settle children

Now, I'm not saying that this necklace has cured everything, but I can tell you that the combination of the garlic oil drops and the necklace has greatly effected Micaiah's appetite, mood, and overall character.

So, if you are just waiting for another confirmed, "Yes, it works", from a friend, you've got it!

God Still Moves

An excerpt in my prayer journal from yesterday morning reads:

"Lord, calm Jenn's heart. Give her peace. Lord, if it is your will, allow her to hear an answer today! You are all powerful. You can reach down to Ethiopia and recover lost paperwork. Give Jenn patience and endurance."

Wow, God is SO good.
I'm not saying that it was my prayer that got them their date, but that God listens to and answers the prayers of His faithful people.

God Be Praised!

If you doubt God's mighty work in today's culture
you can read more testimonies HERE!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

"I Like To Eat, I Like To Eat, I Like To Eat..."

"...apples and bananas"

...AND...


Corn On The Cob

Pizza Crust

Baked Chicken

Pancakes

Salsa and Cheese Quesadillas

Tyson Chicken Nuggets

Cheerios

Blueberries

Lemons

...and...

ribs?

I can just picture it now.
10 years from now on the Montel Williams show
discussing the effects of our loose parenting in the food department
and how it has resulted in our child's poor emotional stability, ha!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Surprised In Georgia

Jonathan (Karis), Alex (Tovah) and Josh

Last weekend we packed up and drove down to Newnan, GA to surprise our friend, Alex, for his 30th birthday. It was our family, Josh's brother and his family and another family. We hadn't all seen each other since I was I was pregnant with Areyna! We all went to college together. It was fun to see everyone with their kids.

Josh and I left at 6:30am on Friday and got a great start for the morning. About half way through the trip we were seriously considering a road trip to Colorado to see my parents, being very confident that it wouldn't be that bad. But, by the time we got in the car and started making the 8-hour trek back home on Sunday afternoon we were reconsidering:) We'll see...

There was no way that Alex and Jana's house could hold all of us so they got a friend of theirs to lend them their camper and our family took over. Our kids LOVED the fact that we got to "camp out". Areyna only fell off the top bunk twice while trying to get out to go to the bathroom and Zeke only woke up Micaiah a few times for us to straighten his "cwooked covohs".
Jana had put together a surprise party for Alex and about 60 other friends came to join us in the celebration. After it got dark they set up a projector and we watched Sigur Ros' Heima. It was awesome! But, after such a long day I ended up falling asleep before it was all over.

The next day was spent catching up on our lives and ministries and then we ended the day listening to our guys jam together.
The whole crew (minus Jonathan and Kelly)

Me and Jana

Playing Outside

It was a little difficult trying to get all the babies to cooperate for a picture=)
Ivalee, Tovah, Karis, Micaiah

I forgot to give the 3-count...sorry Kyle;)

Zeke fell asleep while the boys jammed. Poor guy was exhausted.

We woke up and got to go see Alex and Jana's church, Four Corners. They are church planters doing an amazing work and we were so excited to be able to see Alex preach and see them in their element on Sunday morning.

After church we decided that it was time to make the haul back home. It was a great weekend! I mean, when we couldn't remember the last time we made a road trip, with all the kids, un-ministry or family related, just for fun!
A quick pit-stop to get some "exosize", look for some "tweshoze", and change into jammies.
(sorry, I can't say things that Zeke says without trying to write them the way he says them, ha!)

Josh, has a write-up of Alex's church on HIS BLOG. Go check it out!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Hypothetically Speaking

If one were to write a family devotional and try to reach the most people how would one package it?

Would YOU be more prone to buy an e-book, a Disc with the material that you could put on your computer, or an actually book?

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Awkward

You know when you are walking around in a store and can't find something? Then, you finally find someone with a work shirt on that can help? You make small talk all the way to the area of the store that carries what you were looking for and then you thank them and part ways.

But then, you keep passing them...over and over...while you complete your shopping trip.

Are you supposed to acknowledge them every time you see them now because you are "friends" or do you completely ignore them as if you'd never met? That just seems rude:)

Hmmm...it's just awkward.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Fun Facts For Friday - Friends

1 - Last weekend we had some friends drive up from Charlotte to watch the Lost finale with us! They used to come over every week to watch it with us before we moved, so it only seemed appropriate to reunite for the finale. We had a GREAT time with them. Cai and Leighra got along quite well...as long as Cai didn't crawl all over her and smoosh her face down into the floor:)

Kyle and Audrey even fixed us dinner which was AMAZING! Thanks ya'll for coming and being such great friends!

2 - I found this cute picture the other day. Zeke is always going to be a Super Hero. Our friends Scott and Stefanie took our kids for a whole day so we could pack some boxes before we moved. I mean, what friends DO that?
3 - This weekend we are on our way down south to surprise one of our friends for his birthday! We haven't seen them in YEARS! We are SO excited. I'll definitely be posting pictures of this fun weekend...after he unwraps Josh for his birthday:)

4 - Cai loves food so much that he crawled over to suck on the bottom of his cousin's bottle. He just can't help himself.
5 - A new friend in the mirror...

Thursday, May 27, 2010

"I Wish I Was A Little Bit Taller"


I'm giving away a FREE "The First The Last" CD
to the first person who can name that tune and tell me who wrote it!

Man, I used to love that song:)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Picture Overload From Carowinds

Cai and me waiting for the big picture by the water fountain
(thanks for the beautiful capture Keesha!)

Everyone, minus Jenn and Ezra who were MIA due to a stomach bug.
Kelly took this one.

Zeke has a "Snoopy Shote" that he wears every other day of the week that I actually succeed in getting his spiderman costume off of him...except for when he actually MET Snoopy.
He was SOOOOOO excited. We went and saw him 3 more times.

Kayil and Ella riding the airplanes

Areyna and Cana

Uncle Moose and Zeke shooting webs while riding the hot air balloons

Kayil, Areyna, me and Jenn

All the height-eligible kids on the swings

Zeke, Areyna and Cana waiting for another go-around

Uncle Moose, Zeke and Kayil

Poppie, carting around a tuckered-out Kayil after a LONG day

We were the last ones in the family to leave the park.

What a fun day.

Thank you Joy for graduating, ha!
And thank you Meme and Poppie for such a wonderful day of family togetherness!!!