Bottle Feeding at the Breast

Went to a third appointment with a second Oral Surgeon who thinks a third surgeon (in Lehi--who has laser) might help.  It will not help the structure trouble--his jaws simply do not match up.  It would help the tight upper lip tie and possible tongue tie.
School has started leaving me home with a three year old and a baby.  Even turning him around, he manages to get his sticky fingers or toes around the pumping cords.
Occasionally, like yesterday morning or during the night, he will latch and suckle and I love these moments.  I end up using breast compression (which he hates--but loves the "free milk") which only last for a few minutes longer but I cherish these moments.
This past week it has been hard to have milk come in that I do not have time to pump.  Little guy can be crying and milk can be flowing but he will have none of it!
I often silently pray, "teach me how to parent another way!"

Tongue Tied Mother of Children

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

~ Mary Anne Radmacher

 

Eva had dental surgery this morning.  They filled in small dental carries under her front gums and in between her upper two front teeth.  She also had a frenulm cut and upper lip tie sutured.  Oh that doctor or dentist would have diagnosed her three years ago when she was a sleepy, not thriving, thin little thing!

Little guy still latches poorly and refuses to try the right side at all.  He is gaining weight but starting to put up a fuss about any milk that is not breastmilk (i.e. formula).

It is interesting to note that trials come at a personal cost...I have helped hundreds if not thousands of moms breastfeed...and have breastfed, often tandem feeding, for approximately 14 years now and along comes little guy and I am at a loss as to how to parent him, without being able to do what comes so instinctual to me.

Pumping, pumping, pumping...until 2 a.m. and up again at 6:30 to pump before joining Joe who was with Eva at the dentist.  I am worried about my children who are "missing a mother" while I am pumping for little Liam.

From Old to New

As this year draws to a close, we reflect upon the many happenings of the old year and look forward to the events of a new one.
This has been quite a year for our family...

January--Julie heals from an accident and another year begins.

February--Flowers amidst the snow.

March--In like a lamb, is Spring here all ready!? Rebekah wins the School Spelling Bee and competes for the Region Scripps Spelling Bee.  The children love holding cousin's baby chicks and ducklings.  Joe and Julie attend BYU's Alumni Ball together again!  (Whew--so glad to NOT have meningitis this year).

April--Arches Trip for Spring Break with Aunt Beth and family.  Cousin Jonas is born!  We miscarry a baby on Easter (Factor V Leiden). 

May--Anniversary (and Family) trip to Las Vegas.  We see the Donny and Marie Show featuring dancer Aunt Kelene (Dave Campbell's wife) and visit friend Cassy Dickerson.  Jonathan makes and races his first Pinewood Derby in Scouts!  Sixth grade Graduation.  Schools end and Summer begins.

June--Rebekah and Hannah attend Girl's Camp (but not at Camp Shalom which is still buried in snow!)  Dear Neighbors grandson drowns and family comes to stay with us.  Joe celebrates his 40th Birthday!  We celebrate Midsummer with a new backyard firepit.  We learn at the end of the month that I am expecting another baby!

July--Older girls attend Girls Retreat at Logan Campus.  Jonathan has a SuperHero Birthday party.  Ultrasound of the tiny baby reveals--two babies, one heartbeat.  Brother and beloved Uncle, Michael Joseph Clayton passes away expectantly.  Elfi is readmitted to the hospital (her Lymphoma has returned).

August--We say our final good byes and our sweet sister and Aunt Elfi passes away.  We meet her sister, Hilde, from Austria and speak and sing in a tearful funeral.  Hannah attends her JV Ballroom Clinic.  We host Joe's Family Reunion in Mexico (Puerto Penasco), Mom Clayton falls and breaks her back.  Ben Campbell gets dog bite, Montage Get Away (with S and E) and School begins.

September--One Freshman, One Middle Schooler (at PHS--in the Gifted Program), Two in Elementary (including a bored Kindergartner), and a Preschooler.  All four schools and a tricky schedule for Mom! Another year for Julie's preschool.  Joe's work assignment changes from Actuary to head over I.T.  Brigham City Temple Dedication (with most of the family).

October--General Conference announces new age for missionary service, Ben Campbell and friend Ara visit and stay with us from Korea, children excited about Halloween and making caramel apples.

November--Mitt Romney looses the election to Barak Obama.  What will happen in the U.S. during the next four years time?  We host Clayton's Thanksgiving and count our blessings even as we miss loved ones Elfi and Mike.

December--We see The Hobbit movie opening day.  Snow!  School break!  Family neighborhood gifts of a manger for baby Jesus filled with hay.  Hannah's Christmas Ballroom concert.  Rebekah's Choir concert.  Jonathan's Winter Concert at the BYU MOA and a special Nativity painting to see.  Santa!  Viral Flu and Pneumonia.    

Three Levels of Christmas

Three Levels of Christmas
by William B. Smart
Messages for a Happier Life, (Deseret Book, 1989), 33-34.

Christmas is a beautiful time of the year. We love the excitement, the giving spirit, the special awareness of and appreciation for family and friends, the feelings of love and brotherhood that bless our gatherings at Christmastime.
In all of the joyousness it is well to reflect that Christmas comes at three levels.
Let’s call the first the Santa Claus level. It’s the level of Christmas trees and holly, of whispered secrets and colorful packages, of candlelight and rich food and warm open houses. It’s carolers in the shopping malls, excited children, and weary but loving parents. It’s a lovely time of special warmth and caring and giving. It’s the level at which we eat too much and spend too much and do too much – and enjoy every minute of it. We love the Santa Claus level of Christmas.
But there’s a higher, more beautiful level. Let’s call it the Silent Night level. It’s the level of all our glorious Christmas carols, of that beloved, familiar story: “Now in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus....” It’s the level of the crowded inn and the silent, holy moment in a dark stable when the Son of Man came to earth. It’s the shepherds on steep, bare hills near Bethlehem, angels with their glad tidings, the new star in the East, wise men traveling far in search of the Holy One. How beautiful and meaningful it is; how infinitely poorer we would be without this sacred second level of Christmas.
The trouble is, these two levels don’t last. They can’t.
Twelve days of Christmas, at the first level, is about all most of us can stand. It’s too intense, too extravagant. The tree dies out and needles fall. The candles burn down. The beautiful wrappings go out with the trash, the carolers are up on the ski slopes, the toys break, and the biggest day in the stores for the entire year is exchange day, December 26th. The feast is over and the dieting begins. But the lonely and the hungry are with us still, perhaps lonelier and hungrier than before.
Lovely and joyous as the first level of Christmas is, there will come day, very soon, when Mother will put away the decorations and vacuum the living room and think, “Thank goodness that this over for another year.”
Even the second level, the level of the Baby Jesus, can’t last. How many times this season can you sing, “Silent Night?” The angels and the star, and the shepherd, even the silent, sacred mystery of the holy night itself, can’t long satisfy humanity’s basic need. The man who keeps Christ in the manger will, in the end, be disappointed and empty.
No, for Christmas to last all year long, for it to grow in beauty and meaning and purpose, for it to have the power to change lives, we must celebrate it at the third level, that of the adult Christ. It is at this level—not as an infant—that our Savior brings his gifts of lasting joy, lasting peace, lasting hope. It was the adult Christ who reached out and touched the untouchable, who loved the unlovable, who so loved us all that even in his agony on the cross, he prayed forgiveness for his enemies.
This is Christ, creator of worlds without number, who wept because so many of us lack affection and hate each other – and then who willingly gave his life for all of us, including those for whom he wept. This is the Christ, the adult Christ, who gave us the perfect example, and asked us to follow him.
Accepting that invitation is the way – the only way – that all mankind can celebrate Christmas all year and all life long.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 

from our house to yours!
Dear Family and Friends, please forgive me for NOT getting out a card/newsletter this year.  Rebekah came down ill before Christmas and we have been fighting a viral flu.  Currently, I have asthma, pneumonia, and sinus infections.  Not sure that I can get back on my feet as soon as I hoped.   

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year 2013!

Oh, No! Clayton Family Dinners have visited OUR house!

Tonight, Joe and I woke from an afternoon nap rather late.  While Joe set to returning the Redbox movie that was due before nine (and in which we would have forgotten about, typically, until 8:45), I heated up burritos smothered in green sauce over rice, shredded lettuce, washed tomatoes and put in corn to heat.  Not enough for everyone--Turkey hotdogs are heated up too.
We called the children to "Dinner"--Hannah coming grumpily--having just awakened herself.

So, what did anyone learn about at Church?

Jonathan is asking, "What's the difference between Franfurters, Hot dogs, and Wieners?"

Susie and Jonathan are carrying on a separate conversation--Hey, that's not a wiener, anymore!  Jonathan says.  "No!  It's squishy like a cow's gutter (udder)!"  Susie retorts, squeezing the naked hotdog she has been peeling with her teeth in half. 

Joe and I taught Susie's class today with what I thought was a powerful lesson on Forgiving Others as Christ Did), "Susie, what did you learn about in Church?"  "Thanksgiving and turkeys!"  (The last 10 minutes of my lesson, of course!)

Meanwhile, Eva is singing loudly, "Poop and Pee!  Pooppy, Pee Pee!"

Hannah and Rebekah?  Rebekah was demonstrating a perfect "Hannah" as she prepares to eat anything--she licks it with her tongue.  Apparently, other cousins at the Family Reunion in Mexico noticed this too and had Hannah in stitches.  (Rebekah currently enjoys her Drama class and shares tid-bits about acting with us on a daily basis.)

Stick to A Task

Stick to a task 'til it sticks to you;
Beginners are many, but enders are few.
honor, power, place and praise
Will come, in time, to the person who stays.
Stick to your task 'til it sticks to you;
Bend at it sweat at it, smile at it, too.
For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile
Will come life’s victories, after awhile.


My mother, a thespian Red Devil from Springville High, used to quote this to us-while we did our chores.   LDS President Monson often is heard quoting the beginning of this but I really like the last several sentences.  Hope YOU do too!

Fall Leaves

Fall Leaves up Rock Canyon for Family Night.

 What is it with boys and rock slides, seriously?!  

This was one of several oh so tempting "climbs."

 Ahh, grasshopper!  JUMP, JUMP!

 Why yes, she did haul her thick (new) The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan on our hike! 
Hiking and reading go hand-in-hand as you know.

 "Cheese!" (Kids pull the funniest poses last second, don't they?)

Delicious (and Easy) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.  

Did we just undo our hike?

Giant Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from The Best Bake Sale Cookbook
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife (very high altitudes may want to try adding 2 additional tablespoons of flour)
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 3/4 teaspoon table salt)
3 cups (or 18 ounces) chocolate chips (I used the big Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips and don’t think I wouldn’t be above using those chocolate chunks you can get in the baking aisle…)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325. If desired, line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Beat the softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips). Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.
Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, drop the dough by the scoopful onto the prepared baking sheets. You should be able to get about 6 cookies per sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until they begin to turn light brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely (or don’t…no shame…) Makes 18 giant cookies. If you’re feeling more modest, you can always use a smaller cookie scoop.  (We used our big cookie scoop and it made at least double the amount listed.  Also, I upped the cooking temp to 350--because our oven runs cooler than most and they still take about 12-15 min.  Look  for slightly brown around the edges.  So Yum-ME (as Baby yells)!

A Wicked Witch for Halloween?

 

Do you know the name for the Evil Stepmother of Snow White?  Grimhilde!  

That is who our Princess wants to be for Halloween!  

At least, that is who she wants to be today.   Mind you, in her less than 6 year old mind, her costume ideas are subject to change and have all ready changed from a Fairy, Snow Queen, Princess Aurora, or any other Princess to an Evil Queen.  I needed to know this morning because as per tradition at her school she (and I) has to craft a paper doll look-alike of her costume and it was due today!

In our haste, I forgot to get a photo of the final costumed doll.  Just picture the white pattern with a dark blue velvet dress glues on and the blue ribbon gathered and glues in the center (under the white yoke).  Now, Princess knows what she will do when she grows up--make Paper Dolls and sell them!

Unconquered

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Who was English Poet William Ernest Henley and why did he write this poem? Hensley was hospitalized for tuberculosis (of the bone) as a young man--age 17. After a painful lower leg amputation, he was told he would need another operation to save his other leg. However, he went to a different doctor and was able to keep his other leg by undergoing intensive surgery on his remaining foot. While recovering, he was moved to write the words of this poem. This challenge, as well as impoverished childhood, inspired the poem.  Despite his disability, Hensley led an active life until his death at the age of 53. The title "Invictus" (Latin for "unconquered"^[5]) was added by editor Arthur Quiller-Couch when the poem was included in The Oxford Book of English Verse .^{[6][7]  Wikipedia.}