Franklin turns 1!

Oh man, I have never been sad that my child had a birthday.  But I really had some emotional moments the last few days.  My baby is one.  A toddler.  He doesn't want to be swaddled or held for long, he wants to be off on his own.  He wants to explore and squirm away from my lap.  He's a big boy.
Having his birthday on Cinco de Mayo is just fun.  I could eat tacos every day.  We did- for about 4 meals in a row.  The girls have been counting on a pinata for a year now, so we invited some older kids and friends over to enjoy that.  It was a perfect afternoon with friends and food and toys.  He loved it and did not cry all afternoon.  HERE is the photo link.
Here is an update on Franklin:  His favorite foods are cheese and oranges, cherry tomatoes, blueberries and strawberries are close behind.  He loves having a small desert fork to himself to stab pieces of food and put in his mouth.
He loves anything with wheels (check out the birthday photo album).

 He loves books, really loves them although being a 3rd child, he doesn't get read to as much as the girls did.  Poor thing. His favorite of course were the touch and feel, especially Usborne "That's Not My . . . ." series.  He also loves Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton.  The girls are really good to read to him.  His favorite song is "Give Said the Little Stream" and when we are all in the car and he gets crankie, we all start singing it to him.  Franklin does love to be rocked to sleep and still doesn't go to sleep well on his own, but that is also due to sharing a room with his sisters.  He started sleeping on his tummy as soon as he could roll over, which is unlike my girls.    He can say "Hi" and "Daddy" and "baaaa" for all animals.  He can wave bye and hi and sign "more" when he's really motivated.  He gets really excited when he hasn't seen you for a while.  When I come home from something in the evening, he crawls super fast down the hall shouting "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" with each step.  He LOVES his daddy, would almost prefer him to me often when Stephen is home.  I love that, a lot.  He also says "uh" part of "uh-oh" when I say it.  So cute.  He's loud when he wants to be and doesn't say much most of the time.  On the night of his birthday, the girls took a bath and he always gets SUPER excited and splashes in their water while leaning over the tub, so I thought "what the heck" and put him too.  This one will be great to crack out when the boyfriends and girlfriends come over.

Phrases you never want to hear

Monday was my birthday and Ada was still not better, so I took her in to the Dr.  I suspected what she actually had might be a UTI.  Turns out it is probably a kidney infection.  Not sure how they determine one vs the other, but since she had been sick for 6 days and the nature of her symptoms, her Dr thought it had advanced up to her kidney.  So she told me she wanted to give her IV fluids and antibiotics to get a real jump on it.
"Plan on being here for at least 2 hours" she said.  Ack.  Odessa had to be picked up from school, I had Franklin with me who is in the most tiresome stage of wanting to be moving everywhere, but only being able to crawl- so he can't crawl out in public places like the floors of the medical clinic!
2 hours later, they had tried to get IVs in both arms and failed.  I had been kept waiting forever at the pharmacy for her oral antibiotics, Franklin was DONE and I had steam blowing out both ears and my eyeballs too probably.  Ada looked so sick and sad and forlorn sitting in all those waiting room chairs.  The momma bear in me was raging.  It wasn't that we had to wait so much as a show of incompetence by some of the staff.  I have worked enough in the medical field- you can peg them right away.

So we went home and tried to make something of a fun evening of my birthday, but Ada threw up her dinner and we were worried she should go in to the Urgent Care at the hospital instead of messing around at a clinic.  She took her antibiotic after throwing up though and went to sleep.
Tuesday she did not eat all day but took her antibiotic in the A.M.after a lot of convincing and some gagging. Come evening, she couldn't take them- threw them right up and gagged every time I tried to have her take them.
So, in to the Urgent Care we went last night at 8pm.  She got the IV antibiotics and home with a different oral kind and anti-nausea medicine.  She seems a bit better this morning and after trying unsuccessfully to get her to eat anything, she wandered into the kitchen later and said some of the sweetest words:
"Mom, do you think I could have some Cheerios?"

As for other phrases you never want to hear?
I went out Saturday afternoon to return something and got absorbed in a clearance rack.  Stephen was home with the kids and doing some yard work.  When I walked in the door, Stephen said:
"Well, pretty much your worst nightmare came true today".  How awesome is it to come home to that??  It killed my clearance rack buzz pretty quick.
Turns out Stephen had let Franklin crawl around in the lawn and once when he looked over at him, Franklin was munching away on something.  Franklin puts everything in his mouth.  This is so different than our girls, we still aren't as vigilant as we should be.  Well, you may have guessed.  Or you may never imagine something so horrific.  Yes.  He was munching on some old chicken poop.  I nearly lost my lunch.  Stephen nearly drowned Franklin with the hose apparently while frantically cleaning out his mouth.  I have to say I have been pretty consumed with Ada and forgot to worry about any lasting effects from the incident.  Franklin never got sick, so I guess we can count our blessings for that.  The kid seems to be a fortress.

Sicko

The flu season has not been kind to the Hunt family.  Ada has been perpetually sick.  She is still recovering from her last bout- last week she did not change from her PJs, go anywhere or eat for 4 days.  Fever and throw up this time.  I have had my share of worries about her- she seems to be our child of "delicate health".  I am chalking it up to her being exposed to Odessa's kindergarten germs and all the combined germs from the 2 other families involved in Joy School- their older siblings are in 1st and 2nd grade and I think a whole slew of new germs have been introduced to her this year.
Here are some conversations we have had lately:
I had explained to the girls what the word "contagious" meant- that something was easy to get.
Out of the blue one day Odessa says:  "The Dollar Store is really contagious"
Me:  Why do you say that?
Odessa:  Because it's full of things that are easy to get!

Ada- while lying on the couch one day said "I am pretty sure I know why I keep getting sick but I don't want to tell you and have you get mad"  (this disclaimer often precedes a confession in our house).
Me:  You can tell me, why do you think you keep getting sick?  (I was actually hoping for a specific incidence here that I could blame for the illness- she'd been sucking on the cart handle when I wasn't looking?  Hmmm, impossible.)
Ada:  I lick the lip gloss off my lips.
Me:  Don't worry Ada, that's not it.

And here's a random one that may only be funny in our family.
Fridays is popcorn and movie day after school.  We had a whole bowl of leftover popcorn because "sickie" didn't eat any.
Two days later:
Me:  I bet I know who would like this stale old popcorn.
Odessa:  Franklin?
Me:  No
Odessa:  Dad?
Me:  No
Ada:  You?
Me:  No
long pause . . . .
Odessa:  Sister Bingham?
(she's a sweet older lady that sits near us and helps with the kids)
Me:  (laughing) No!  The chickens!  (and they did)

A whole lotta something going on

Sigh.
Big sigh.
Spring Break is over.  So is Easter.  We had the Hunts, Nana and Austins visit us for Easter and turned around a traveled to Park City via Boise for the Hambelton "reunion" of sorts.  Two of my 3 sisters and their families met in Park City for a week of togetherness.  I have so many pictures of these 2 events, I finally made a Picasa Web Album.  You should be able to view it HERE.  If not, try the link on the side of my blog.  I played around with some of the features on Picasa there at the end.  That was fun.  Below is just a sampling.

It was a great couple of weeks filled with flowers, family and road trips.  We found our new favorite road trip CD- Road Trip by Hullabaloo.  We stopped at all-American eateries Maddox and Triple XXX Rootbeer.  I shopped a steady 8 hours at the outlet mall with my sisters.  That was pure bliss.  Now it's back to the grind, but the good weather seems to have followed us- at least for a couple days and there are birthday celebrations to anticipate.  Mine, then Frankie's (yes, he is ONE on May 5th) and then Ada's.

Life Changing

Last Friday night I attended a fundraiser and jewelry party for the non-profit African Promise Foundation.  A local mother of 5 got interested in the plight of the children in Northern Uganda who were displaced and orphaned as a result of the LRA Army (Kony's Army) and the move to camps by the government to "protect them".  The stories she shared with us and the pictures of the people in camps and orphanages that she is trying to help was of course heart wrenching.  The following video shows just a few pictures taken by her organization on trips to Uganda.  I wish you could hear the stories behind some of the pictures about the kids or people and what they have been through and how they currently suffer.  This is a great video.

African Promise Foundation does a few things- they buy jewelry that is made from beads that the women make from recycled paper and resell them here in the States.  Here are some I bought that night.

These silver beads are made by one woman who collects the silver linings from cigarette boxes.
The women get a fair price for their jewelry and the proceeds from sells are put in a fund to send some of the orphaned children to school.  Because this is such a small organization, 100% of the proceeds and all donations go to fund the kid's schooling.  100%!!  The woman who heads this organization and the board of directors do not get any reimbursement for their time and energy, they put it all towards the cause.  We have donated to a fair share of organizations in the past, and 100% of proceeds going to help a specific cause is just awesome and very rare.

I was so inspired by this tiny foundation.  Our "year of austerity" seems ridiculous.  We can afford to help these kids.  You can send one to school for anywhere from $300-600 a year.  Sounds like a lot of money until I think of that big trip to Costco when I spent $250 a few months ago.  A whole year of school- good school too, with room and board.  

It's hard to see pics of the little boys with distended bellies and think of my baby and his all-around great health and fatness.  But it helps to think of giving up something so that one of these kids can benefit.  If you want to help, go to http://africanpromisefoundation.org/.  If you do one thing only, please read the story of how the African Promise Foundation came to be under the "about" link.  http://africanpromisefoundation.org/about/

It might change your life, it sure did mine!

The Year of Austerity

I have been writing this hideously long post about our dive into real budget tightening, but no one wants to read all that.  Let me start over and just say a couple things about areas we saved money- maybe it can help others.  We have a land line as part of a package deal, so we dropped the cell phone plans to go on a prepaid minutes plan.  We have never had internet on the go and likely will not.  We like maps and stopping at the nearest gas station for directions.  Really, we do.  We were paying around $75 a month for 2 lines and too many minutes.  Now we pay $200 for the whole year for 2 phones with 1,000 minutes each.  Our year just expired and we both had close to 200 minutes left to roll over.  Awesome.
Other money saving steps have included shopping at some interesting locales for the cheapest prices.  I now get almost all my fruits and veggies from a Korean stand in a lower end neighborhood.  Yah, they have a "brewlesque" java joint nearby, no carts or baskets and no room for kids or strollers, but I have come away with 2 bags full for less than $10.  No joke.  They get things leftover from a restaurant supplier in the area and I often am getting organic and high quality stuff for merely a fraction what it would cost.  Case in point:  they were randomly selling pecans for $2.99 a pound bag.  Amazing.  Good pecan halves too.

We make things from scratch we never attempted before.  I used to buy a loaf of Italian or French bread on the days we had pasta, then I bought lots of them from the bakery outlet and froze them, now I have learned to make good Italian bread at home and freeze the extra loaves.  We make pizza, burgers, fries and all Asian and Mexican food we're craving at home instead of going out.  Did you know it takes about 2 1/2 hours to make good french fries at home?  I didn't!  We ate late that night.  Cereal is so expensive, I started making homemade granola from the 25lb bag of oats I got in bulk.  The girls and I often eat an egg and homemade toast and they get cereal once or twice a week is all.  It's saving a bundle.
I started watching a couple of kids from down the street in the mornings before school.  They hang out for about 30 minutes and walk to school with us.  Not hard at all, but the extra cash is a godsend!
Budgeting:  Am I learning my capabilities?  Sure.  Is it fun?  At times.  Do I hate it?  Mostly. But the Year of Austerity marches on!  LOL

Three's company

People always say that having that 3rd kid can be the hardest.  That once you have more kids than hands, it gets really tricky.  I never bought in to the 3 kids, 2 hands thing, but I always concurred that 3 kids was probably very overwhelming. For me, three kids changes the whole ball game.  Instead of feeling like I don't have enough hands, it's more like I need 2 more BODIES for the other 2.  Right when I need to be nursing, one needs help with homework and the other needs a snack, or wiping, or dinner has to be started, or the wash has to be changed before we go out the door, but everyone is already in coats and Franklin is screaming.  Suddenly, I feel like I am being pulled 3 different ways (or more) and I don't remember being so overwhelmed with 2.

The most important change is that 3 kids seems to have finally driven me inside myself and my family.  This is hard to explain.  I so often find myself thinking "I can't, I need to just take care of us right now".  I feel like I can't help or give as much, I can't take care of others, I need to take care of us because somehow the jump from 2 to 3 has made me completely unable to handle more than my little household.  While I realize that most of this is due to the fact that Odessa and Ada were easier babies, that they were close together and all the work kind of heaped into 2 years and then was over for the last 3, and that we will probably "grow out" of this difficult phase, I also wonder if something permanent has occurred.  I admit that sometimes it feels good to say to myself  "I can't, I need to focus on us".  What doesn't feel good is telling Stephen "no, we can't have so-and-so over for dinner" or to the girls "no, I can't help you with that right now".  What a difference three makes to me.  I feel like I have stepped back from being in a position to help and now I look around hoping someone else will fill the gap.

This isn't meant to be a downer or a deterrent to those wanting a big family, I just needed to document how fundamentally 3 kids has changed me and my outlook towards the world.  There are plenty of capable people who have a lot more kids than 3, I am pretty sure I won't be one of them.  Relinquishing control has to play a part in that and I work on that too.  For now, I am ok to turn a little more inward more of the time.