Adventures of the Supersized 6

For nearly 6 months Noah our 3 soon to be 4 year old has endured a challenge that we all thought he wouldn't handle. In Novemeber Noah had his 3rd, yeah 3rd surgery on his lacrimal ducts. These are those itty bitty little holes in the inner corner of your lower eye lid. These drain your tears into your nasal cavity and keep you from looking like your crying all the time. Noah's were smaller than they should have been, and the small chamber that goes into the nose was non-existent in his left eye. This left us battling infections among other anoying things. He had 2 surgeries before Christmas in 2002, but over time we could tell that it wasn't working. Upon moving to Cincy it seemed like it got worse than ever before. We found an amazing surgeon who specialized in occular reconstructions and had even put in prosthetic ducts. After 1 visit we were scheduled for surgery at Childrens. The hope was that there would be an open pocket in the tissue where the ducts should have been. There wasn't, so he probed and used a balloon catheter to open and expand the existing ducts and placed a stent tube through the intricate system on both sides. Since he lacked the upper duct system on the left side he had this tube kinda dangling that looped from the lower duct opening through the nasal cavity and out the bottom of his nose. It was tied into a knot and looked rather odd and we would alternate taping it down on his nose or cheek since the tape would irritate his skin. The right eye has a tube that you can hardly see in the inner corner of his eye. The longest that a child allowed an external stent was 4 months, and it finally stretched enough to break. We took bets and figured that Noah would last a good 3 days! He lasted nearly 6 months! Talk about endurance!
Since this is the season for Noah and I to have allergy issues flare he has been very congested, eyes running again (among other things) and has been very cranky. When we went to see the surgeon for his follow up he realized that Noah probably has had enough and that he would be more comfortable without the tube. So within in minutes Noah was set free of the tube, or "my tapes" as he called it. Within hours his eye was no longer running, gooping, or horribly red from the irritation. It is very odd to see him running around without the tube or the tape on his face. But it is so good to see him without knowing that the worst is behind him. We will go back to Childrens in October to have the internal stent removed. As I tucked him into bed he reached up to feel for his tapes and realized that they won't be there anymore. He said "bye bye tapes!". It must be strange for him since they were there for what must have seemed like an eternity in his little life of 3 years.
What amazing little creatures children are, that they can endure so much, and gain so much more wisdom through their adversity than we as adults do. If only I could look at my trials and have such joy at the end with a joyous "Bye Bye Tapes!"
TLM

With there being no soccer games except for Sunday afternoons this season it affords us freedom on Saturdays!
Something I cherish. Our nephew David will be visiting for the weekend so Aaron is planning on taking the boys to the lake to fish. They have all been itching to get out there, Jake most of all since he got a really cool "real" fishing pole for his Birthday. I enjoy spring so much despite my allergies. I feel like we are all coming out of hibernation.

I read two really neat quotes on Motherhood. One is reflective and the other is just funny and true

"Into the woman's keeping is commited the destiny of the generations to come after us"
Theadore Roosevelt
"A mother's patience is like a tube of toothpaste- it's never quite finished."

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Spring weekend!

TLM

I got on my soap box about the article I read while waiting for Jake and Annika's dr visit, but failed to give a report of how it went.
Jake is doing very well. He is still a little bigger than average, 4 1/2 feet tall, and 60 pounds, and very healthy. He goes in to see the vision department at Children's hosp. next week so we will have a better idea of where he is visually. Annika is loving her formula and is now up to 8 pounds 2 ounces! So she grew nearly 2 pounds and an inch in her first month. Once again I was told that we have perfect children. I wondered if I would agree with that finding after they got their shots!?

TLM

How big is too big? I guess it depends if your from the "less is more" camp, or "the bigger the better" camp.
I read an article while waiting our turn at the pediatricians office. The article in the finance section was about how our government could reform the tax codes to better our economy. A Mr. Dalton Conley, director of NYU center for "advanced social science research" had plenty to say about large families and why our government should "step in". To summarize what Mr. Conley had to say he pointed out that for each child a family recieves a tax credit. In addition if there is child care costs for said child then there is an additional credit for those expenses. Mr. Conley believes that families that have more than 2 children should pay a penalty for going over the national average. His research showed that a couple that had 2 children of the same sex were more likely to go for a 3rd child than those who had one of each. He believes that it is this 3rd child that is crippling our economy. In addition he felt that these additional children were also recieving less emotional attachment and encouragment from their parents. I am shocked that he didn't suggest that we should adopt China's strict policy of only allowing 2 children for each family. I am going to assume that Mr. Conley is a middle child venting and in need of some therapy. Or maybe he just doesn't like children in general?

When I found out about my pregnancy with Annika I was struggling to accept it, and worried about what reaction's we would get. We got a mix of comments. We even got some reactions that were more appologetic than supportive, which only drug me further in my inability to accept and be happy about our expansion. Once I started to accept and become excited I felt like I was then perceived as crazy for wanting 4 children. Over time I realized that I don't care about what people say or think about how big our family is. What matters the most is that God saw fit to bless us. These little people we call ours were created to do great things. I am so glad to live with the freedom to not be forced to limit God's blessings and plan for my life. Yes we are larger than that national average, and we do like the tax credit. I doubt that is why there are so many families out there with 3,4 or even more children. And I ask Mr. Conley, how can I be hurting the economy with my 4 children when everytime I go to Sam's Club I spend more than enough doing my share to keep jobs in the food industry? I am sure the makers of my laundry detergent are happy with my 2-3 loads a day too!

This large family plan has grown on me. I am sure before long there will be new faces at our dinner table as our children will have friends over and they will become our "add on" family members. I seem to recall being an "add on" to a few families myself. To that I can only say, the more the merrier! I realize that I am very lucky to live with the freedoms I do. I accept God's blesssing and gift that he gave me in each one of my children. I can't imagine which 2 children I would pick if I were only allowed 2, but I am so glad that I don't have to pick!

Mark 9:37
Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me;and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.

TLM

It was another fun and eventful Sunday at the soccer fields. Jake's game was at 1pm so we rushed in a furry out of church to make to the fields. Jake's had mentioned rather opptimistically on our way there that he was going to score 10 goals this season. I told him that if he kept telling himself that he could than there is no reason why he couldn't. Not 5 minutes into the game he scored a goal, his second of the season. He is now tied with his points from last season! Not bad for a deffensive player! He also got to try out goaltending. He did very well and showed no fear. He dove to block and made good use of his feet. We were inpressed with his first attempt at goalie. Jake has all boys on his team and they played a team that was all girls. It was the first time they had played girls other than for a scrimage before they playoffs last fall, needless to say the boys kept them running. Although this season they don't keep track of points we figured it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-15.

Madie's game wasn't scheduled till 5. So we grabbed some chilli dogs for lunch and visited with grandma and grandpa who had just returned from a nice weekend getaway. The kids adore them so much that the 3 days of not seeing them seemed like an eternity. Madie's games are so fun to watch. The kids seem so small and they resemble a swarm of bees swirling around as they chase the ball. One parent refered to the team as a herd, they all clump together. Madie tried very hard and does a pretty good of keeping up with the herd. She told me on the way to the van that she really loves playing and hopes to actually kick the ball on of these games. So do I. But at least she is enjoying it, which is all we really wanted anyways. Both teams of cuties did well and we lost count on goals, so I would say it was about even.

Next week should prove to be our first major test as a maga family...two kids playing at the same time. Both Jake and Madie have games scheduled at 5. Should make for an interesting time!

TLM

Good question...I hope we can make that a reality.
I realized last night that we are fastly approaching April 26th. A day of no signifigance to anyone but the inhabitants of 209 North Main Street. It will mark one year since we moved from Sycamore (a suburb of Chicago) to Bethel (a suburb of Cincinnati). A year! 365 days! 52 Saturdays! Wait... was it a leap year? Doesn't matter, it flew by at warp speed. I look out at the green sprouts on the trees and it looked the same when we bought this house, and wonder what we did in those 365 days spent here. The biggest accomplishment I can note is that we grew. Not just in the population sense, but as individuals and as a family.
Do we love chaos? Absolutly. I find myself giggling at the sheer amusement that I actually have 4 kids. I see that I was way too rigid of a mom before. I now can see that it is way more fun to have a tea party in a pink feathered boa, wearing a tiara adorned with plastic jewels than it is to scrub my kitchen floor. Having a princess help show you how it's done does help. Don't get me wrong, I still clean the floors I just clean them wearing a plastic tiara now. May God grant me the endurance to keep up with their little feet, the patience when I find graffiti on my wall, the grace to show them love at all times, understanding when I have a sick or tired or cranky toddler, the strenght to not duct tape them all to the wall when they gang up on me, the words to encourage them, the actions to be a good example, the peace of knowing that I am not alone, and may arms be as open to them as my heart is.
We are blessed beyond measure!
I can't make any promises, but I hope that we can document our goings on here. If for nothing else than for ourselves when our memory fails us!

Tina