An Unexpected Tale of Two Cities

We are walking down a path we did not forsee.  Instead of being with my newborn daughter 24/7, I am visiting her in the NICU at a Children's Hospital 50 miles away from our home.  Here's an overview of the first week of her life:

Monday:
In the wee hours of the morning, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at the local Catholic hospital.

Tuesday: 
We went home.

Wednesday: 
"Blueberry" had her 2-day checkup.

Thursday: I took my too-sleepy daughter back to see the doctor.  And then:

• she was admitted to the local hospital for tests to be run.
• our little girl was transported to Omaha by ambulance to await surgery.

Friday: 

• We held our daughter in our arms and in our prayers before she went into the operating room.  And we waited. 
• Three hours later, the surgeon came out to let us know that the surgery on her intestines went well.  The sun literally broke through the clouds just moments before. 
• We rejoiced in the good news and shared it with those who had been praying.
• My husband drove back home to be with our other three children.

Saturday: 

• Three grandparents and our three children drove to Omaha to see "Blueberry" after her surgery.  Several friends came to visit as well.  We were relieved and happy that our daughter was doing so well. 
• I went home with my mother and the kids. 
• My husband and parents-in-law stayed in Omaha.

Sunday: 
I had the odd experience of going to church less than a week after giving birth.  I had thought I would be staying home with my new baby girl.  Yet I had so much for which to give praise and thanks to God, how could I keep from singing?

Monday: 
I returned to Omaha and my husband returned home.

Before our littlest girl was born, I was anxious about the tasks I'd left undone, and wondered how we would cope with the transition of adding another child to our family.  Now I look forward to our family being reunited, chaos and all.   And I actually long for the chance to be awoken in the night to feed my newborn child. 

Until then, I trust that not only is she in great hands here with the expert hospital staff, there are greater hands which are holding and preserving her life as she recovers. 

He's got the tiny little babies in His hands...
He's got you and me sister in His hands,

He's got the whole world in His hands.

Chocolate Covered Banana Slices: An Easy Ice Cream Alternative

Recently I've been trying to eliminate dairy from my diet (temporarily) because of MSPI.  After watching the other four members of my family indulge in ice cream for dessert, I resolved to find something I could enjoy alongside them.  The frozen chocolate-covered bananas that I used to order at Swensen's Ice Cream shop in Thailand were becoming quite an unfulfilled craving.  How I wish Dairy Queen would carry them!  But recently I found a bite-sized dairy-free version at Trader Joe's (imported from Thailand no less!).  So I splurged and bought this box:

Then I made a more budget-friendly version at home, with the following results:

To make about 8 ounces of banana bites costs less than a dollar, versus $1.99 for the store-bought version.  While the Ghiradhelli dark chocolate chips I melted are not entirely dairy-free (since they contain milk fat), vegan chocolate chips cost twice as much.  Hopefully our fourth child will not notice any small trace of milk.

 For more dairy-free ideas, I also have a list of 7 Surprisingly Good Ice Cream Alternatives.

I'm linking this post to Pennywise Platter and Try New Adventures Thursday.

Speckled Snowflake Cards

Supplies Used:

• White paper snowflakes
• Tape
• Cardstock
• Blue paper
• Purple Koolaid "spray paint"
• Spray bottle
• Watercolor brush
• Watercolor paint set
• Water
• Glue stick

How we made the designs:

1. Fill a spray bottle with unsweetened colored Koolaid mix and water (or use food dye).
2. Lightly tape a snowflake onto cardstock.
3. Spray lightly with Koolaid dye.
4. Throughly wet a paint brush and use an index finger to flick a coordinating color of watercolor paint onto the snowflake and background, creating a splattered paint effect.
5. Allow snowflake to dry before removing it from the background.
6. Glue the snowflake onto a contrasting paper background.

This project was inspired by the following:

• Watercolour Spray Inks
• Watercolor Cross Cards
• DIY Pick Up Sticks Game: Colored Chopsticks

Find more fun ideas at Show & Share Saturday at I Can Teach My Child.

The Snowflake Stomp: A game to learn sight words and more!

We developed this snowflake word game last winter.  Today's frigid temperatures prompted me to set it up again for my 4-year-old son, who is now a pre-reader, and likes to move.

How to play:

1. Set up the snowflakes and secure with tape.   Decide what version you'd like to play--sight words, letters, pictures or numbers.
2. Call out or say a phrase that includes one of the words/ targets.  The child should step or stomp on that snowflake.
3. After he or she has stomped on all of the targets, ask the child to choose a target word/ letter/ number and stomp on it.  Or the child can be a "caller" to instruct someone else where to stomp.

Helpful tips and options:

• Tape page protectors lengthwise so that the opening is available to slide paper flashcards in and out. 

• If using zipper bags, tape around the edges except for the opening, so you can insert and remove what is inside. 

• Electrical tape or masking tape are probably superior to painters tape, which we used.

• If your tape is not sticky enough, reinforce it with clear packing tape.

• At first we wrote on the plastic with wet-erase overhead markers.  The ink rubbed off after playing the game, so I switched the text to paper flashcards placed under the clear plastic. 

• We taped our plastic covered "snowflake quilt" onto a fleece blanket, which can be folded and reused, but you can also tape the snowflakes onto the floor/ carpet directly.

I'm linking this idea to Show & Share Saturday , Show and Tell and It's Playtime.

More snowflake-themed activities:

Snowflake Flying Disks
Snowflake Window Clings
Crystal Snowflake

A Time to Finish and Keep Things Simple

0ur holiday travels ended last week and we are finally starting to get back to a more normal routine with school resuming again.  Meanwhile, I'm wondering how much I can accomplish before baby number four arrives (later this month?)!

Being realistic is not a strength of mine, but goals do help me stay a little more focused.  My main goals for this month (and beyond) are simple: to finish things that I've started and to let go of what is not essential.  Here are 10 things this procrastinator needs (or wants) to do between now and whenever Baby Blueberry arrives:

1. Clean and declutter the whole house.  Yes, it's an audacious goal, but it will make life so much better when it's done.
2. Pack my bag for the hospital.
3. Sort through the baby clothes I've been given.  I am so thankful for generous friends who've stepped forward to meet that need!
4. Turn in hospital paperwork.
5. Finish putting away Christmas decorations.
6. Purchase and prepare supplies for MOPS creative activities this month and next.
7. Plan a dairy-free menu for the rest of the month.  One of the midwives I saw advised me to cut out dairy now in an attempt to avoid another colicky baby with MSPI.
8. Finish several books I've started to read.   I'll put them in my hospital bag in case I don't finish them all before arrival day.
9. Make breakfast foods ahead of time.  On my list: granola, muffins, maybe waffles...
10. Cook a meal with my daughters.  We will use recipes from a book I found at the library, Wrap-N-Bake Egg Rolls: And Other Chinese Dishes.

After making progress on these high-priority items, I'm looking forward to doing some fun things too, like scheduling some craft projects to do with my kids.  And since the weather is supposed to get cold again soon, we can do several out-of-the-ordinary winter activities that we enjoyed last January.

I am linking this to Anti-Procrastination Tuesday.