How could I leave out?

The Baby Whisperer? Of course, that topics has received as many hits as the Haberman. Maybe I should include O-P-R-A-H in every post? Apparently...Holly is not the only fussy baby in the world :-)

You can see my thoughts about The Baby Whisperer to the right. The bottom line is this though, if you have fed, changed, rocked, loved, played with and burped your little cherub and she is still screaming to wake the neighborhood, something else is wrong and you should go to the doctor.

The doctor may not believe you the first time, or the second time. Sleep is different issue, but non-stop crying is not "colic". Really, new born infants are not "spoiled" and if you have done all you can, seek help.

Splish, Splash!

Anna and I had fun today making a personal pool for Holly. I think Holly had fun too! Here are few things Holly has been up to lately: Sleeping about 6 hours a night, tried her first empty ice cream cone! And much to my relief, she did not choke on it, or end up with pieces in her nose. Holly has also learned to stick out her tongue (there's a picture in the video). And of course, she is trying to get up on her toes, instead of her knees. That's a little frustrating for her. Enjoy the summer splish, splash pictures!

Cafeteria Catholic?

Your cafeteria is 70% closed!

Now we're talking! Here's someone who has a fairly good understanding of what is expected of you as a Catholic. Keep the brain cells active, and try to learn as much as you can!

Are you a Cafeteria Catholic?
Take More Quizzes

Darn I missed 3 out of 10! Believe me, I am desperately trying to keep my brain cells active!

Got a Glue Gun, Watch Out!

Anna desperately wanted a glue gun for her birthday. I mean really, really wanted one. She was a little disappointed that ALL her aunts wouldn't be at the skating rink. Because that meant the chances would be slimmer of receiving that particular gift. None the less, Aunt Teresa and Uncle Bob came through! Anna has been happily gluing anything that sparkles since.

Here she has created a beautiful headband for Holly, out of glue, string and bow shaped beads.

Holly didn't mind the headband, but really wanted Anna to move out of the way so she could get the cat. Merlin has long since learned to avoid small children :-).

Whatcha' readin?

I love the Feedjit at the bottom of this blog. There is a link to click on to see "live feed". Not like there is that much traffic here. The cool part is that the live feed lists what people searched on that brought them to our little part of the world.

By far the number one search is for "Our Lady of Good Remedy", followed closely by "Haberman Bottle". A tie for third would be "fruit flies" and "wasps". Wonder what people think about that wasps trap? I have decided we are really not Martha Stewart/Country Living but more like Jeff Foxworthy/just plain Country. I'm ok with that, we don't have a swarm of wasps at the sand box anymore!

Back to the number 1 search, "Our Lady of Good Remedy". Isn't that just great! Mary deserves to be the number 1 search. After all, if you find her, you will find The Number One that you are really searching for!

What is it about Mary that makes her worth searching for? (Well, the thoughts that follow are not my own, but from all that I have read over the past few years.) My favorite example comes from Jesus' own first miracle, changing water into wine. Why did he do it? He said his time was not yet. He wasn't ready to reveal himself. But he did a miracle! Why? Simply because His mother asked Him to.

Simply because Mary asked her son, for a favor. Or as we like to say, a prayer request.

In other words, have you ever seen your husband jump faster, than when his mother calls? I don't know about all families, but I know my husband definitely honors his mom. When she calls, all else stops. He will talk to his mom anytime and there is very little he wouldn't do for her.

That is a good thing. They have this relationship that is love. How much more LOVE is there from Jesus (who is LOVE) for his own mother, Mary?

Which brings me back to our original question: Why search for Mary? Clearly she is deserving of our respect just because she carried Christ, our Savior, in her body. But Mary wants more than just to be honored. She wants to love us too. And what better way to show some one love than to help in a time of need?

Finally, if you are searching for help, ask Mary. You may find More than you are looking for!

Hooray! 10 Years Old!

Check out the new hair do!
Anna gets a real hair cut and style!
(What we both learned: if the hairdresser says,
this will look better than the picture, hmmm maybe she meant different)
Anna is still happy with her grown up look!

The Cake is an original design, by the 10 year old herself!!!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this Big Day! Anna had such a good time and hopes everyone did. (Even her cousin Chris, whose toe got cut accidentally at the mini golf area! He is recovering without stitches, thank goodness!)

In the past ten years, Anna has been an avid learner of all things crafty and artistic. I believe she is on the edge of surpassing "The Master" (that would be me, Mom, in our little world). To honor her achievements, Anna will be taking art classes this year from a real art teacher. I think my new role in Anna's education will be to keep the art supplies well stocked!

Happy Birthday Anna, Dad and I love you!

Something is Amiss

Movie Reviews

My friend had this interesting icon on her blog too. But her's said "Elementary Level". There is something wrong here. She muses about liberty and true freedon, about proper punctuation, poems by Leonard Feeney, and tolerance. I am writing about hanging meat from trees, covering vinegar in bowls and baby food. What's the catch?

Grateful in ALL Things?

Now that you've seen our food delivery system, can I vent a moment?

I hate bottles, really I do. Holly is still only drinking 4 ounces at a time. That adds up to 6 or 7 bottles a day. Now we've added about 4 food bottles to this regime. Basically, I am fixing, giving or washing bottles (with a little break to type a note or two).

Here are a few other things that are driving me crazy: No apples, pears, juice or food, because that irritates the lining of Holly's nose. Which cause her nose to run and be stopped up, that causes her to drool more too. No rice, oatmeal or bananas because that irritates her stomach. And by irritate, I mean constipate. And that makes Holly stay awake and wake up all night long. Carrots, I thought were ok before, but now maybe not. Carrots and bananas seem to aggravate her reflux, some sharp burps, some coughing.

At this point, I can count on sweet potatoes. Everytime. No fussing, no awake all the time, no stopped up nose. Just sweet potatoes. That helps some. Holly will wake just once now, if all else is "just right". What I am after is sleep.

I saw our friend Reid enjoying an ice cream cone (just the cone). I was nearly "pea green with envy". I remember the first time my others got to eat things like that too, so much fun. Surely Holly will one day too?

All this makes me think, am I truly grateful in ALL things? Can I say thank you for these bottles, thank you for this way off feeding Holly? I have to. I refuse to let Satan distract me with envy. I am stubborn after all. Stubborn enough to say, in spite of everything, Thank you God for all the things you have given me. Every gift, every trial. Please help me be grateful always.

Baby Food and the Haberman

I promised pictures of our "baby food system". Here's the low down on how we are using the Medela Special Needs Feeder to offer Holly baby food: I fill the nipple only with food, insert the valve and disc, then attach this to the bottle. Keeping the whole thing upside down so the food doesn't pour out. Once the bottle is on tight, you are good to go. No leaking.



And the key to our success here is using one of those old split nipples. I've been saving them in the hopes that we could get another mile out of them.

The only downside to this so far is that the nipple only holds one ounce. It takes two of these set-ups to get down a small baby bottle. Not like I don't have a few old Habermans to spare. We've got plenty. The nipple I can squeeze to help, and the valve/disc creates the vacuum that helps too. Holly can eat this way pretty quickly, with out food coming out her nose. That totally stresses her out. All eating stops once her nose is clogged.

The new system arrived in the mail yesterday. It is called the Sassy Infant Feeder. I bought these off ebay. It holds more food and has a bottom that you can gently push up to move the food out. Holly did not take right to it and we made a bigger mess pouring the food back into the Haberman. Not sure if I will pursue this new bottle. After all, the next surgery is in two months. And after that, she should be able to eat with a spoon. Right?

Neat-o!

Lee Allison and Holly on the 4th

Not sure about this seat!

Holly can sign MILK! Hooray! How cool is that? We will work on HUNGRY next. Also working on CHANGE DIAPER.

Wee Sing What?!?

Don't you just hate it when modern day writers re-write children's songs and stories so each are more pleasant? Barney is famous for changing fairy tales to be more politcally correct.

Now the Wee Sing tape we are listening to has changed that standard "Alouette" to "All You Eat-ah!" I know the original is gross. But it is a classic traveling song. This new version is weird.

All you eat-ah, think of all you eat-ah ("eat" is pronounced "et")
All you eat-ah, think of all you eat

Think of all the spaghetti you et,
Think of all the spaghetti you et.

Spaghetti you et, spaghetti you et.

Who cares about how much spaghetti you "et"? If you are eating that much spaghetti, you need more than a song. There is some weird paradox here at work: we don't want our preschoolers exposed to the realities of life in fairy tales (people used to kill birds for dinner), but then as they reach tween years the exposure to beyond reality violence is extreme. What is going on here?

The Story of Our Lady of Good Remedy

Perhaps it is my destiny to constantly rely on God for our financial needs. Then it makes sense that Mary, who provided money to free slaves, would be especially dear to me.


But the true reason for my devotion to Our Lady of Good Remedy lies in the first stanza of her prayer.

Thou art the beloved Daughter of the Most High God,

the chosen Mother of the Incarnate Word,

the Immaculate Spouse of the Holy Spirit,

the Sacred Vessel of the Most Holy Trinity.

That really says it all, doesn't it? Mary is more than just some girl who said yes.

Ouch! Wasps

It was bound to happen. Our wonderful, fun, freshly loaded sandbox is near a wasp nest. Unfortunately, we can not actually locate the nest. It must be in the ground.

Today was the day, Bill got stung. Maybe the wasps are upset with the rain flooding their home. Here's the Simple Solution to trap Wasps: First place a bucket of soapy water under a tree limb, whwere you want to place the trap. Then, hang a small piece of raw beef from a tree. About 4 ft high. The wasps will gorge on the beef and fall into the soapy water.

Talk about the condemned last meal!

We set the trap at aboout 9am this morning and in less then 2 hours, 2 bees have bit the dust, and several are munching their way to the end of the line!

There are two sad side effects: 1. Our cat is throughly confused. She can smell the meat but can't find it. 2. The yard smells like raw beef. I see this is not a long term solution, but may work for today. If only that queen bee will come out.

Holly Fun

Good News, at 7 months old, Holly has stopped drooling so very much. She has improved enough for Anna Michele to share her stuffed animal collection. Holly really enjoyed it!

Let the Battle Begin

Last year, I fought what felt like an epic battle with little black ants. By the end of the summer, my Simple Solution to the Big Little Ant Problem was Vinegar.

I remember because my children protested loudly. Surprisingly, they preferred Ants to the smell of vinegar. I used an empty Windex bottle filled with white vinegar. Sprayed the door where the ants come in often throughout the day. This seemed to cut down on the number of ants marching in.

This year, I will add whole cloves to my attack. Apparently, ants don't like the smell of cloves either. And I will just pour the vinegar outside the door, instead of inside. Vinegar, outside and cloves inside.

I hope it works!

Hollywood, Here We Come?

Ok, Hollywood may not be ready for the Fishers. And we are definitely not Hollywood material. But Holly has made her first guest appearance. These friends have encourage me to keep going, and seek answers for Holly's little baby steps.

Most recently, Reid's fabulous eating habits and record setting sleep have pushed me to try food again with Holly. I had almost resolved to wait until after the next surgery to begin solids. But when I read about Reid's experiences, we picked up the spoon again. So far, Holly likes carrots and sweet potatoes but not bananas.

I'll post pictures of using the Haberman for baby food soon. Using a syringe was good and spoon works but is very slow and tedious. So far, the Haberman has only one drawback: The nipple holds 1 ounce. So, I'll have to have a few bottles set up and ready to go, once Holly is ready for more.

But maybe by then, that next surgery will be over and we'll just use a spoon!