Season Opener

We are glad to provide our children the opportunity to play ball.  They love playing on a team of friends, wearing a uniform, and enjoying a special post-game snack.  We love that they are having fun, learning to follow coaching, and gaining an appreciation for the sport of baseball.  

With 6 kids playing on 3 teams, this is going to be a crazy busy baseball season!  

Fortunately it's only for 4 weeks!  In the very near future we will have to strictly limit our activities.

We don't want extracurriculars to take over our family life - with 8 children that could happen all too easily.

But for now, we will enjoy this season of baseball.  

Play Ball!

Davis and Burke played in the first game of our 2012 season.  The boys were adorable out on the field and up at bat - they had a great time! (and even more fun to have our neighbor as coach!)

Brothers

2 boys

2 missing teeth (a first and a fourth)

2 train track masters

2 brothers

Living History

We love homeschooling!  We take this ministry seriously and do what we can to provide impactful learning experiences for the kids.  When we heard from a good friend about a revolutionary war re-enactment this past weekend, we decided to take a last-minute road trip . . . a crazy, spontaneous trip!  

We loaded up the car and after a 5-hour drive to Southwest Indiana, we enjoyed two days at the Spirit of Vincennes Rendezvous - the largest revolutionary war re-enactment west of the Appalachians.  What a wonderful opportunity!  We are learning of colonial American and the revolution in our homeschool history studies right now, and there is no better way to learn than to experience it.  It's one thing to read about history, but to see history brought to life is quite memorable.  From watching the continental troops battle the British and military demonstrations (cannon, fifes and drums) to enjoying period performers (magicians, juggling acts, musical groups), to attending a traditional 1700's church ceremony, to visiting shops (blacksmith, quilter, glassblowers, furniture maker, and wool spinners), our children got a first-hand opportunity they won't soon forget.  We are thankful to the artisans and performers dedicated to preserving this important part of our American history.

It was a wonderful adventure - a great way to spend Memorial weekend!
Watching the re-enactments gave us a greater appreciation for men and women who bravely fought to enable the freedoms we enjoy today.  We were glad experience this living history with our family.

 The kids' highlights: watching the cannon demonstration and juggling act, touching historical artisan tools,  and talking with the re-enactoras (despite a grand offer, Hendrick did not want to become a servant boy to an affluent couple - he was not interested in emptying their chamber pot and holding their parasol) . . . but they were especially thrilled with their new wooden artillery and rock candy : )

* Vincennes, Indiana is the site of an important American victory during the revolution, where Colonel George Rogers Clark led an American force on an 18-day march, surprising the British, not losing a single soldier, and capturing Fort Sackville.

Sweet Cheeks

Miss Chubs has some super Sweet Cheeks!

We are blessed with a very healthy (90th percentile) girl.

LOVE those sweet cheeks!

 

(The boys affectionately call our girl "Fatty Lumpkin")

Mud Island

This past week, Grandpa took us on a grand adventure to Mud Island River Park. 
Mud Island is actually a small peninsula located on the Mississippi and is accessed by monorail or walking bridge from Memphis.  The kids were fascinated to ride the monorail over the river and thoroughly enjoyed the walk-through history of the river at the Mississippi River Museum, especially the two full-scale boat models.   

But the overwhelming highlight of Mud Island:  the 2000 foot long exact model of the mighty Mississippi. 

The Riverwalk features the Mississippi at its confluence with the Ohio River 954 miles south to the Gulf of Mexico, every 30 inches equal to 1 mile, each contour ridge equal to 5 ft vertical depth  Twenty cities are mapped along the Riverwalk.  The river journey concludes at a one-acre "Gulf of Mexico" with pedal boats and a small splash pond and fountain overlooking downtown Memphis.

Very cool to explore the Mississippi River Walk while walking along the Mighty Mississippi.  The kids are asking to return for another grand adventure on the Mississippi. 
(Next time we'll know to wear our swimsuits and bring a change of clothes!)

 Return trip over the River on the Monorail

Batter Up

Grandpa to the rescue yet again . . . 

With Miss Maclaren in the hospital last week, our planned visit with Great Grandma, Great Aunt, and Grandpa was postponed - but, thankfully Grandpa was still willing to come down to help. 

Grandpa arrived Tuesday evening ready to help around the house, lavish the kiddos with extra special attention, and allow us to focus on and care for Maclaren.  His visit was well-timed, we were so thankful for the extra pair of hands and the extra attention for the older kids.  

(with 5 weeks of helping our family in the past 7 months, he is quite the expert!)

Grandpa prepared meals, played toss with our ball players, babysat during doctor visits, took the kids to the playground and bike riding, assisted in the outfield during baseball practice, joined us in cheering on our local AA baseball team, and treated our family to a fun day at Mud Island in Memphis.  

We love having Grandpa!  

Thank you for being so generous with your time and your willingness to help!

The kids enjoying their bats acquired at the Minor League Baseball game!

Looking Up

 We appreciate your continued prayers for Miss Maclaren.  

It's been a joy to have her delightful personality returning - we're loving her super grins and coos.

Unfortunately, poor dear is still fairly uncomfortable, but thankfully she is on the road to healing.   

We were thankful to have Grandpa with us for the week to allow us to focus on Maclaren.

 Love those grins!

Hospital Healing

After 10 days of medicine and 3 trips to our pediatrician office, Maclaren's skin rash (impetigo) took a dramatic turn for the worse.  Saturday morning, we woke to find a red rash covering 80% of her body.  Our pediatrician was shocked to see this severity of rash and, suspecting staph, made preparations for us to take Maclaren to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

Mike was away backpacking for the weekend.
Amy had all 8 kids at the pediatrician office and one very sick baby.

Praise God: a good friend was available at a moments notice and amazingly took in our seven kids.
Praise God: Mike and his friends decided to take a short hike out and come back early.

By the time Amy and kids arrived home, Mike had the bags all packed.  We sent the seven off with our friend and drove our girl to Nashville.

  Poor girl in the ER

Upon our ER arrive, we were immediately surrounded by a team of doctors, hearing words like "staph", "meningitis", "spinal tap", "unvaccinated infant", "rapid onset rash" . . . we were thankful for their expert care and attention, but were incredibly worried for our baby girl.  When the first blood test results came back normal, we were relieved to hear: "it's not as bad as it could be".  Praise God!

The suspected culprit: Staph Scalded Skin Syndrome (SSSS), produced toxins and created a "burned skin" appearance on our beautiful girl.
We were admitted to the hospital and transferred to room 7414 so our baby girl could be closely monitored and given an IV of antibiotics to treat the infection.  We were told to expect a 1-2 day stay if the drugs worked well, a significantly longer stay if not.
We prayed for healing!

 

her ID anklet with a "Fall Risk" warning tag

That first day, our little one was sick.  We had a large sign on our hospital room door alerting all visitors.  Every doctor and nurse entering our room wore a full gown and gloves.  Maclaren was incredibly vulnerable and the hospital staff didn't want to risk spreading infection.  

She was obviously (and understandably) uncomfortable.  But her fussiness was a good sign.  Although she wasn't her usually smiley self, our sweet girl still grinned at doctors and nurses between fusses.  Her "normal" baby behaviors gave us all hope and assurance that all was going to be OK with this little one.  Several people commented that Maclaren was one of the best babies - we had to agree.  

As parents, it was so hard to see our little one suffering.  As much as we wished we could, we couldn't make the rash go away and there seemed to be so little we could do to help.  We did cuddle our baby and held her nearly the whole time.  We could comfort our baby girl.   We could pray for our baby girl.

The next day (Mother's Day), a team of doctors visited to discuss her case.  They believed her neck infection was SSSS, but were unconvinced the body rash was related.  A dermatologist team was sent in to consult.  They agreed with the SSSS diagnosis, and confirmed that that body rash was indeed different.  They believed the body rash was due to an allergic reaction to the medication she had been given for impetigo, which she had been taking 10 days.  Apparently, it's not uncommon for medicinal allergies to have delayed reactions and not appear until day 10-12 of treatment.  

Maclaren is allergic to cephalosporins, which are among the most common antibiotics used to treat infections. 

 Mother's Day spent taking care of my baby girl

Maclaren was given a burn cream to aid in healing the sore on her neck and chest, treating the SSSS rash as a burn.  Her IV antibiotics were administered every 6 hours.  We were now in a "wait and see" position, praying for the body rash to fade and the neck rash to respond to the new medication.

 burn cream smeared all over face by a squirmy baby

 a cast to protect the IV port

Praise God, Monday morning, we did notice significant fading of the rash on her face and torso.  Her SSSS neck rash was beginning to change too, looking less red and irritated.  Doctors suspect the neck/chest area will take months to completely heal and the skin pigment to return to normal.  There is a risk of scarring.   

We were thrilled to see our baby girl doing so well!  

Best of all, she was obviously feeling much better and acting more like herself, full of coos and smiles!  

Seeing such progress, the doctors, confident in their diagnosis, changed her IV medication to an oral dosage and discharged us Monday afternoon!  

 Feeling better and ready to come home!

We had to chuckle at the pharmacist's advice to mix her medication with chocolate pudding!  We were surprised by how many shocked and confused reactions we got during our three-day hospital stay to the fact that our 3-month-old is exclusively breastfed. Yes, she nurses exclusively : )
(one uncomfortable resident awkwardly asked me how she does that - ha!)

Our baby girl is home and she is healing!  Praise God!!!

We are so pleased to be back home with all of our children!
We are incredibly thankful to friends who so willingly and lovingly took in seven kids to allow us to fully focus on our baby.  It was a huge relief to know they were being cared for so well. 
We are grateful to the staff at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for their expert attention and care of our baby girl.  
We were blessed by the prayers of many.
Thank you!

Maclaren was surrounded in prayers.
God is the ultimate healer and was so clearly involved.
God answers prayers.
God heals.
 
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.   Psalm 103:3-4

God is so good!

*We would really appreciate your continued prayers for the healing of Maclaren. 

Injera

 We are making Injera!!!  

Injera is the staple food of Ethiopia, used to eat the rich and flavorful stews/ wats.   It is made withTeff flour, a nutritious, high-iron, gluten-free grain grown in Ethiopia.  The batter ferments to give the injera a mildly sour taste.  The process to make the injera begins with a starter and requires two days, although is relatively hands off.  When it's time to cook, the thin injera batter is poured onto a large, round, lidded skillet, bubbling and cooking quickly on one side.  The large round is then removed to cool.  The resulting injera is very spongy and perfect for soaking up wat.

    

Tesfaye and I have enjoyed experimenting and perfecting our injera-making skills.  We have been very successful thanks to the advice and teachings of a missionary friend and our brand new electric mitad skillet.  Tesfaye is so proud to be able to make authentic Ethiopian food at home.  Yummy!

Ti kil gomen (cabbage and potatoes), Misir wat (lentil stew), Fosulia ba carat (beans and carrots).

Shiro (chickpea stew), Misir wat (lentil stew), Ater kik (yellow split chickpeas)

3 Months

Miss Maclaren is 3-months-old!  

She is the sweetest most beautiful little one - we are completely smitten with our sweet girl.

At 3 months, our baby girl:

.  has perfected the "superman" strongly holding her head up from her tummy  . 

.  wears 3-6 month clothing, weighing in at over 13.5 pounds  .

.  nurses 5-7 times each day  . 

.  consistently sleeps 7 hour stretches each night (woot!)  .  

.  loves her pacifier  .  

.  smiles and coos and loves to talk with people  .  

.  is very active and squirmy, kicking her legs and boxing her arms  .  

.  spends her days in our arms, in her bouncy seat, or on a blanket on the floor  .  

.  gets lots of attention from her 7 adoring siblings, who are quick to help and love to entertain  .  

.  has siblings fighting for the opportunity to sit next to her in the van : )

We have been so blessed by this little one. 

 Unfortunately, our pretty girl contracted impetigo, a bacterial skin infection.  

She has a pretty nasty blistering rash on her neck and chest, spreading to her arms 

which we've been battling with various treatments for the past 2 weeks.  

Poor girl has been understandably miserable, writhing and fussy.  

It's been heartbreaking.

We're praying for soothing of the itchiness and quick healing

Catch and Release

While we were walking/biking in the neighborhood today, Hendrick spotted a turtle.

Our nature-loving, critter-catcher carried the huge Red Eared Slider 1-mile home.

He immediately set to work creating a perfect turtle habitat in our plastic pool, complete with veggie snacks.

 She must have been comfortable in her new home . . . 

within 30 minutes she laid an egg.

 Perfect learning opportunity!

We researched Red Ear Slider eggs:

The RES can lay up to 20 eggs in a clutch, and up to 3-4 clutches a season.  

The nest area is very important to laying eggs.  

If she doesn't lay her eggs in a nest, she will sometimes lay in the water or retain them.

Eggs laid in water must be immediately removed or they will not be viable due to lack of oxygen 

It is very important that a suitable nesting area be provided. 

The eggs (with proper conditions) take 60-80 day to hatch.

Hendrick transported his turtle to a suitable nesting spot and dug his own nest for the egg.  

Hopefully we'll find some baby turtles in 2-3 months!

Good Luck Mama!