Mercy's Solution to H1N1

Due to the swine flu, children under 18 have been banned from visiting at the hospital where Benj works. During the spring and summer, I often take the children to see Benj at work when we're in town running errands, and Mercy will ask to "go find my daggy" when I tell her we're going bye-bye. I haven't been taking them to his unit since the flu outbreak, but we have met him in the lobby. Last night, we were in town late, so I decided to pick Benj up from work. Since I couldn't take the children in, we sat out in the truck and waited. Mercy wanted to go in to the "big howspill" badly, but I told her we couldn't because of all the sick people. She said, "Tell all the sick people to go home."

I'm sure many of the nurses would heartily agree with her solution. The patients...maybe not so much.

Judah has enjoyed being a cowboy with one of Benj's discarded hats:

Today I French braided Mercy's hair for the first time. I've done little braids across the front to keep her hair out of her eyes, but she just now has enough to braid it all down the sides. She looks so grown up.

And that's all the news from Lake Woebegone, where the man is tired, the woman is frustrated, and the children never sleep.

Foodie Friday

Also titled "My First Gluten Free Baking Disaster."

Also titled "Go Ahead and Laugh."

We met Benjy's parents for a picnic at a state park about an hour and a half from here on last Saturday. It is one way for grandparents/grandkids to have some bonding time when none of us have time to make the four and a half hour trip for a longer stay. We each bring our own main dish, then bring something to share. Benjy's mom brought her famous sour cream pound cake, which is one of my all-time favorite desserts...that I can no longer eat due to the massive amounts of gluten in it. I mean, this cake has sold for nearly $200 at bake auctions b/c it has such a reputation.

Anyway, Sunday, I decided I was going to try to make it gluten free. It's a simple recipe, so the only thing I really had to substitute was the flour. I also added 1 tsp of baking powder since the whole grain gluten free flour would be heavy and not really rise (I do this all the time when baking with alternative grains). I wisely put a cookie sheet under the pan, since the pan seemed kinda full to me. 10 minutes into the 80 minute baking time, I looked in the oven, and it looked like a veritable volcano. The batter was frothing out over the cake pan, onto the cookie sheet, and was ready to overflow the cookie sheet. I quickly slid yet another cookie sheet on the lower rack and began frantically scooping batter out of the cookie sheet. The batter just kept rising and rising over the cake pan. This went on for about 40 minutes. I went and scooped out the cookie sheet every few minutes. Finally, about the 40 minute mark, the whole thing fell so that the cake was about an inch high (I didn't expect it to be it's usual spectacular 6 inches high, but I thought it would at least stay the height of the batter!) 80 minutes came and went, and the cake was still batter, so I left it in another 20 minutes, and it did finally finish baking. Don't think I wasn't tempted just to take it out and throw the whole thing in the garbage, but (a) it was a Pampered Chef springform pan that I did not want to replace, (b) I wanted a piece of that cake, doggone it, and (c) there were two sticks of organic butter, 6 organic eggs, 1 cup of organic whole yoghurt, and 3 cups of very expensive gluten free baking mix in it...I at least wanted SOMETHING to show for all those expensive ingredients!

Oh the mess. I should have taken a picture. My cake pan was covered in baked-on, half-burnt, half-gooey cake batter. The cookie sheet under the pan was a lost cause. I threw that away. I was able to salvage the bottom cookie sheet that only caught a small amount of the batter, but I had to soak it overnight to get the charcoal like substance off of it (did NOT want to throw that away, as it is my only stainless steel sheet).

The good news is that the cake was absolutely delicious. It tasted a little more whole-grainy than the original cake, which is made with white flour, but it was fabulous. The texture was moist and heavy just like the original cake. The crumb wasn't as fine...more coarse like a cornbread than fine and dense like a pound cake. I'll definitely make it again, but next time, I'll find a bigger pan and leave out the extra baking powder. Note to self: read the ingredients on the box of the GF baking mix before adding extra ingredients. The baking mix had baking powder AND baking soda in it. Oopsy.

Stellan is sick again

I was surprised to read on mycharmingkids.com this morning that overnight Stellan unexpectedly started a severe bout of SVT. He is in the PICU intubated, and the interventions they have tried are not bringing down his heartrate. He is also showing signs of decreased heart function. Please pray for him and his family. You can read about it here: http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2009/10/stellan-update_28.html

I wonder where she gets that?

We were getting groceries yesterday and entered the candy aisle. Mercy sweetly said, "Mama, I need some chocolate."

New Moon Rising

Crack kills. We know. But isn't this the cutest case of plumber's pants you've ever seen?

Autumn Adventures

A cold rainy day with two grouchy kids and stir crazy mom & dad was a good time to pull out a craft project. Mercy had fun making her "hand" turkey. Judah preferred eating the crayons and gluing his fingers together.

As you can see, Judah had a little help. He mainly pushed the pieces of paper down after I glued them.

A new way to play the piano. Being the attentive and cautious mother I am, I didn't grab the camera FIRST and rescue later.

I spy...Judah!

Mercy has been sick this week. She woke up with 103 degree fever on Monday morning, and it went as high as 105. She had no other symptoms, and was eating, drinking and playing pretty much normally, but we were worried she had influenza. Finally, Tuesday evening, after it was too late to call the doctor (of course) she started complaining that her ear hurt. I took her to the doctor the next evening, and she has a double ear infection. Her fevers are gone, but she's been waking up multiple times at night because of the ear pain, despite Tylenol or Motrin. We'll all be glad when she's feeling better.

Not surprisingly, being under the weather hasn't kept Mercy from amusing us with her speeches and expresses. The other night, she was lying on our bed while Benj read her bedtime stories to her. Benj had socks on, and he was moving his toes inside his socks. Mercy said "Daggy's socks are wild!" I have no idea where that came from, but it seriously tickled us.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Today, October 15, is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

After four years of unexplained infertility, we finally conceived our first child with the help of fertility drugs. After 10 weeks of thinking everything was fine, prematurely pulling out maternity clothes, and telling everyone our exciting news, we found out that our baby had stopped growing at 6 weeks.

The months following were some of the darkest of my life. I was amazed at the insensitivity and downright cruelty of those who had never experienced the loss of a child. I was also amazed at the number of women who came to me and told me that they had lost one, or two, or more babies. I found that pregnancy and infant loss is just not discussed. With some of the unbelievable things that were said to me, I can see why many women choose to keep their griefs secret.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day is a time to remember the babies we've lost and to remember that for many women, a pregnancy does not equal a "take-home baby." And for those of us blessed enough to have earth-bound babies, it is a reminder to not take them for granted.

International Children's Festival

We headed south to the International Children's Festival this morning. It was a toss-up...this weekend is also the greatly anticipated Apple Butter Festival in our own little town. I'm so glad we chose the children's festival. The children had a load of fun (okay, and I admit it--Benj and I did too). There were indoor displays from around 30 different countries. There were instruments to touch and play and buy, foods to try, demonstrations to see, handprints to make, and friends to meet.

We missed the tae kwon doe demonstrations and dough juggling, but were just in time for some international singing, African drumming, and Indian dancing. By the time we had watched all these wonderful things, the children were too tired to get their passports stamped at all the display tables, or get their faces painted, but it was still well worth the trip. I'm hoping that if there is another festival next year, we can go earlier in the morning so we can see more before the naptime meltdowns start.

The indoor displays from around the world where we could get our "passports" stamped.

Judah with Auntie

Indian dancer (this is actually a doctor Benj works with at the hospital...he was just a little surprised!)

Bollywood dancers from an Indian dance academy

Mercy dancing with the African drummers

Clutching the wooden African giraffe the sweet African lady gave Mercy

The African drumming ensemble.

On a roll

Mercy has been on a roll lately with little sayings and expressions that keep Benj and I laughing as well as on our toes. Some of her latest...

When Judah was venturing too far down the driveway and Benj called to him to stop (and he actually did!): "Good boy, Dudah! Good boy for obeying Daggy and Mercy." We didn't address the issue that Judah doesn't exactly have to obey HER.

When she was trying to get her wool-stuffed doll with rather unbendable legs to sit in the stroller: "SIT! Obey Mommy!"

When she was sitting at the table, cuddling a toy: "I gove you, but you must obey Mercy!" Do you see a trend here?

When she was pretending her sippy cup was her "hot coffee," Judah was begging for it, and I asked her if she could share a drink with Judah: "No Dudah. Hot coffee. It will keep you awake!" Wonder where she's heard that before.

When she was outside playing, she saw me at the window and came to show me her owie: "I want a band-aid, Lisa." I told her I was mommy, and she shouldn't call me "Lisa." Her response: "Daggy say Lisa."

Not to be outdone, Judah has a lot to say as well. I suppose it's normal for a 14 month old to say words, but Mercy was essentially a functional mute until after her second birthday, so Benj and I listen with mouths hanging open when Judah says a new word, unprompted. It's also been a delight to teach him a new word and actually have him try to repeat it. When prompted to say a new word, Mercy would only say "Mmm--mmmm-mmm," accompanied by vigorous head shaking. Judah's new words, besides Mama and Daddy, are "thank you" (it took me a few days before I realized he was saying "daa-doo" nearly every time I gave him something,as it was completely unprompted), "drink," "eat," "snack," "dog," and "dat?" Not surprising that most of his words have to do with food or drink since he weighs well over 25 pounds and is wearing 24 month clothes. The fat rolls on his neck alone would sustain him through a substantial famine.

And because I'm sure you're dying to know, Benj is just fine and I... I am eating far too much chocolate. So I'm pregnant. Give me a break. And that's all I have to say about that.