Tuesday, January 5, 2010

If you treat every situation as a life-and-death matter...you will die a lot.




Day 2 & Day 3

“There is something about babyness that brings out the
softness in people and makes them want to hug and protect this small thing that
moves and dribbles and produces what we poetically call poopoo. Even that
becomes precious, for the arrival of a baby coincides with the departure of our
minds.” Bill Crosby


One of the biggest lessons that mothering has taught me is that MY plans often get altered and become secondary to the needs of my children. In fact, it happens on a daily and sometimes hourly basis!

It can be really tempting to make small things that come up during the day into big problems. We laugh when our toddlers flip out over a tiny detail (like putting on their winter hat or when they fuss because we added an extra pea to their dinner plate). But I pause to wonder how I appear when I take small thing (my hubby left his towel on the floor again) and turn it into a really big deal! God must get a chuckle out of watching my own temper tantrum!

I did not get the chance to write last night because Lacey is pretty sick and has required my full attention.

I am learning to constantly “surrender” (a word my sister Di have added to our everyday conversations) to what is going on today-instead of fretting over what I might want and how things were supposed to go.

The only thing I can control? My OWN attitude. And when Mama in unhappy – everyone is miserable.

We as mothers set the tone in our own homes and in the hearts of our children.

After a 24-hour bout with stomach the flu last week, Lacey has been ill (with a low-grade fever) for the past week or so. We stayed in all weekend but she still was not feeling well on Monday so I took her in to be evaluated.

Drum roll please… Lace actually has pneumonia! Poor girl!

The Doctor said we need to get her rested, medicated, and hydrated before her appetite will return explaining that an inflamed diaphragm puts pressure on the abdomen and stomach-drastically squashing a child’s appetite.


Enter the virtue of Patience (and also insert the humor of God) – now is NOT the time for a battle of the wills over high chair manners.

Once again I am reminded – my plans are not necessarily God’s. How humbling, especially when I was excited about starting this blog and writing everyday about Lacey’s behavioral progress!

But I know and believe that what God’s word says is true. Jeremiah 29 reminds us that our Creator’s plans are designed to “prosper us and not to harm us. They are plans to give us hope and a future.”

Pneumonia is dangerous for a toddler like Lacey because she is underweight and lactose intolerant – making any type of illness treacherous to her health because it does a number on her immune system and affects her weight gain. She went through a rough patch this summer, fighting months of chronic diarrhea and weight loss that landed us at Children’s Hospital in DC. Diagnosis-a bought with the Rota Virus last March left her unable to digest lactose-something we did not discover until surgery and tens of tests later in the month of July.

I would love your prayers or any suggestions about what types of foods I can offer Lace while she is sick. At this point – because she is basically refusing most food – any calories are good calories. Loads of Popsicles and lots to drink!

Erica- major congrats on the birth of your daughter Lillian Marie! You couldn’t have picked a more precious name!