Out!

clockwise from top: Liam sporting his smart shower cap for surgery; my hospital essentials; me looking tres tired and just as spiffy in the shower cap; Liam eating his umpteenth icecream before breakfast; Liam quite happy to have eaten so much icecream; Liam's hospital essentials.

Tonsils are out!

Adenoids are out!

Middle-ear gunk is oooozing out!

I have a bright, brave and now hearing little boy.  He was so remarkable at the hospital.  I did expect the worst, and was pleasantly surprised by how well it all went.

Thank you for all the well-wishes and prayers.

Rick wanted to bake a cake but I had a hankering to bake a Victoria Sponge with Raspberry jam, so I did.

And for those who were not following along on Instagram, it was my birthday the same day.  So the day before was cake and family time.  Then on the day, I totally forgot it was my birthday . . . even my hubby and kids needed reminding . . . but the song was sung the day before!

I feel so excited for Liam.  There's a whole world out there for him to experience more fully.  He can hear his ABC Reading Eggs, he is snoring less and hopefully his sleep apnoea is gone.

But what I am praying for most is for Liam to get well enough to go off his seizure medication. I guess all will be revealed in the days and weeks ahead.

xxx

Aloe Driftwood :: WIP

I am just loving knitting top-down and in the round.  Check out these sleeves - so clever

Yes, I am still around!

My menfolk have fallen sick one after the other, over and over again these last 5 weeks.  Liam has become so bad that when it was time for the long-awaited ENT appointment he was sufficiently infected, swollen and pus-oozy that the ENT surgeon declared "grommets! tonsils out! adenoids out!".

Surgery has been booked for 6 week's time, right on my birthday.  So I have a hot date with my gorgeous little 4 year old, in overnight accommodation with lashings of ice cream.  And you know, with the lack of sleep I have had lately, it sounds delightful.  But seriously, I am thrilled about the surgery.  You see, Liam has sleep apnoea which finally a medical professional has admitted could be causing his seizures (I knew it was something to do with his ears, nose and throat issues!!!).  There are no promises but I can't help thinking that it will relieve the situation.

Sleep apnoea in little children can cause learning difficulties and behavioural issues.  His deafness caused by glue ear is causing poor speech development.  His tonsils and adenoids are causing the sleep apnoea and excessive dribbling.  And. so. on.  I am scared to pieces about a surgeon cutting into my little boy but I am praying praying praying!

Right now I wish I could have my tonsils removed.  I have shared my bed for the past few weeks with sick little boys, breathing their germs and being drooled on so it was only a matter of time and sleep deprivation before I succumbed!

This is supposed to be a craft blog too.  So enough talk of sickness.  This is what I have been up to in between playing nurse-maid.  With the weather getting warmer, I fear it won't be worn this season.  Nevermind.  I'll give you all the details when I finish.






Do you have something on the needles that won't make it before spring?

xxx

Celebration in Rocket Style

Thanks Han for snapping this cutie-pie pic!

As you know, my big boy turned 4 last week.

I've gone through the classic "oh my, how quick has he grown!" response to it all.

He was the first little one to be pulled from my body and placed into my eager arms. I cradled his warm tiny form against my chest and he and I just stared at each other with the same amount of shock and "how do you do?"

Liam Raul, my first born.  The little one that made me a Mumma and turned my life on its axis.

In the four years following, we have watched him become a little boy of wonder.  While our family has been through many challenges, Liam has kept his happy-cheer, his love of people and fun times.  And we have also welcomed his little brother into the fold.  Our family is complete despite my ever longing for more children (in my moments of complete abandon of reality!!)

Liam has never asked me what the mark is on his face.

Liam has never complained about trips to the hospital.

Liam has only once spat out his medicine (was at his little brother!)

All Liam wanted for his birthday was friends and cake.  I thought I could get away this year without having a bona fide party, that perhaps he wouldn't miss what he has never had.  I just didn't realise that 4 year olds are aware of parties.  I really thought that it wouldn't be until school!

Even though he missed out on a party with his little friends, we continued our tradition of 'family parties'.  My three beautiful step-kids came with their partners/spouse and their kids/step-kids.  Rick bought a BBQ (his first ever- this man is 48 and never has owned a BBQ!), which was fired up and well used.

And the cake.  What looked like was going to be a challenge of mega sorts, turned out wonderfully.

I used my basic cup cake mix and made 3 batches, baked in a 24cm square cake tin for 20 mins each.

Rick used a round cutter and layered cake with cream cheese frosting (uncoloured) and Wagon Wheels!  The top is a waffle cone dipped in chocolate and the fins are cake covered in chocolate.  Toss in m&ms and you have a rocket cake!  I'm really chuffed.  Rick said after icing and assembling Dean's Lego cake that he wanted to make Liam a rocket cake.  And he did.  I love that about Rick.

Liam is not a good candle-blower-outerer, so he had a separate cake to catch the spray.

Liam loves his big siblings!  It was a really lovely day and has me wishing they would all visit more often.  Life is busy but at least the birthdays are well spaced so we get a good smattering of visits through the year.  It is hard when they live 1.5 hrs away and work weekends.  But we love going up there too.

Who makes the birthday cakes in your house?  If you have a blog link, I'd love to see it!

xx

Liam's Vest

I wasn't sure whether to show you this or not!  I am not pleased with it.

I started knitting it late April but needed some quick fix beanie and dishcloth knitting in between.  So it sat in the knitting basket.  Then I took it with me to Hervey Bay in June with every intention of finishing it there.  But another beanie jumped onto my needles!

Even though I learnt basic knitting as a child and dabbled in my 20's I really hadn't progressed.  So every garment I have made since (last 2 years) has me learning something new.  In this case I learnt to join the shoulders using mattress stitch.  Actually, I now know how to mattress stitch, but this knowledge came about after I joined the shoulders.  You see, I pulled the stitches too tight so it still appears as a seam instead of flat and invisible.  And, as it often does with knitting, one mistake here can lead to further problems there.


Because I pulled the stitches too tight, it made the armhole slightly smaller and therefore the stipulated number of stitches for the armhole are now too many.  But I didn't realise until the end.  And I am a bit of a lazy knitter at times.  If I go too far past the error, I tend not to unravel.  Pah!  So now Liam has little upturned armholes!  He won't be in it for long as he is getting tubbier by the day.

And as to the stripe, I ended up with my original combo of grey, white and yellow.

You can find my ravelry deets here

What do you think?  Should I unravel and do the armholes again?

I should pull out the neck band too and then redo the shoulder seams but I can't. be. bothered.  Too many other knitting expeditions are awaiting!

xx

My little strawberry man

When Liam was born, he had a small patch of red squiggles on his right cheek.  They looked like faint broken capillaries and were almost invisible on his jaundiced little face.  The only thing we were told at the hospital was "it will get worse before it gets better".  They didn't even tell me what it was!  It took a lovely doctor at my church to tell me it was an haemangioma (blood lump/benign tumor/strawberry mark).  And it did get worse!

I used to never really notice it getting worse, or rather didn't want to as all I wanted to do was to love and nurture him.  But I was always reminded of it in public.  Really stupid people would come up to me and blatantly ask me what was wrong with him! What's that on his face?  Did you burn him?


The crazy thing is, no one wanted to actually listen to my answer.  It's like their eyes and tongues were disconnected from their brains and they just blurted out their shock of his appearance like an uncontrollable verbal fart.  In my head I would scream don't ask if you don't want to know!  I did tell more than one person to mind their own business and what's that on YOUR face?


And then there were the double-takers and the starers.  Some people, I've discovered are extremely underdeveloped socially.  I would come home and have a little cry.  Not out of embarrassment or shame of his face, but from fear that this silly red splotch on his face could one day tell him he was a freak or worthless because that is how some adults were viewing him.  Even at my church a few people recoiled in disgust at him!

Not everyone though.  There are some people in our lives who have always seen his beautiful eyes, smile and funny personality.

I started doing some research on haemangiomas and was overwhelmed.  I went to a plastic surgeon at Sydney's Westmead Hospital who told me that there was nothing you can do and it may go after 20 years!  This is after he stuck his unwashed, tobacco stinking fingers in Liam's mouth!  It took me months before I went to a private surgeon for advice.  Months that were critical and therefore meant I missed the boat with one of the treatments available.

Then I just gave it over to God.  All of it.  And I believe He told me to wait.  Wait and see.  And you know what, it began to involute quite quickly.  The redness and bulkiness have all but gone.  We are still facing the possibility of surgery but I also believe God may have another plan yet.

This is the same little man who suffers random seizures and yesterday I was told he has significant hearing loss in his left ear.  I am praying for God's direction and trust Him to guide me as Liam is not only my son, he is His son too.

xx

More PJs, sick kidlets and a holiday

So following on with my success in making pjs for Dean, I made two more pairs of pj pants.  And because I didn't feel overly enthused to tackle the pyjama shirt again, I opted for cheap long-sleeve t's and appliqué.

I used my star shaped biscuit cutter and traced around it.  And here I will cease telling you how I did it because I really don't know how to appliqué!  With all the on line tutorials on the subject, you'd think I would have done my research first, but no.  I thought that a simple iron-on interfacing and a little zig-zag stitching would do the trick.  Well, it didn't.  The stars started to come away after only one wash!  Pah!  So I stitched a straight line and have crossed my fingers.  Oh well.

I used the same pattern as before but for Liam's pair (pictured first), I didn't add the cuff, I simply extended the legs as I had run out of contrasting fabric.  Likewise, Dean's pair (pictured last) didn't get the contrast fabric on the waistband.  But that is neither here nor there.  I am pleased that I can go freestyle this early on in my sewing capers.

My little men were sick last week.  Another lurgy from kindy.  And it was cold.  So rugging up in blankies and watching dvds was in order.  But I worry about Liam.

As you know, Liam suffers from generalised seizures (here and here too).  He is now on medication.  It has slowed him down and the seizures have seemingly come under control (for now!!).  But he is a different little man.  Some of the change I don't mind because I think he is able to concentrate a little harder.  I don't like seeing him so tired and he is putting on weight.  He is still in 50 percentile which isn't bad at all, I just worry about the rapid gain and will it keep going?  And the most worrying part is  . . . . he's just not himself anymore.  I have discovered a quieter more polite and considerate little man (at times), but I miss some of his former energetic craziness! (I don't believe I just wrote that- sheesh, I'm the crazy one!!)

We worry a lot as mothers don't we?  Dean nearly ran out in front of a car yesterday.  So it isn't all unfounded worry.  They do crazy things in a blink of an eye.  Us mothers feel guilty for blinking.

We are off this weekend for a much needed holiday.  Heading back up to Hervey Bay to see family and reconnect with the wonderfully amazing friends we made up there.  Might be MIA for a bit.  See you soon.

xx

Sleeping on the Edge

And I am not talking about the perils of sharing your bed with a spouse and little people.

Since January, I have hardly slept.  Yes, the little sleep that I was getting since becoming a mummy reduced even further.  It is fitful.  I'm on edge.

Every strange noise coming from down the hall makes me leap to my feet, run down to the other end of the house and brace myself as I enter his room to check on him.  On my little Liam.  His seizures have always occurred in his sleep.  At any time in his sleep. 

The last one was at 4 in the morning, Easter Monday.  We heard a strange choking/moan.  Rick and I both leapt to our feet and ran down to Liam's room. Turning that corner into his room, seeing him struggling to breathe as his body was rigid and shaking, is a sight forever burnt on my mind along with the image of him fitting in the car only days earlier.

Liam gets the best bed hair!

Liam has the flu.  He has high temps and is breathing strangely due to congestion.  I am around-the-clock taking his temperature as high temps can bring on seizures.  I am tired.  I am writing every thing down.

And today will be 1 week of Liam being on his seizure medication.  We are easing him on it and at this stage he won't be on full dose for quite some time.  The doctor said to expect more seizures until that point.  It is a possible 2-year medication period.  This concerns me greatly as there are side-effects. 

Two nights ago, Liam's temp was 38.8C and he was shaking.  Like really shaking.  If he wasn't conscious I would have said that it was seizure-like.  Full on body tremors.  This could have been the high temperature but one of the medication's side-effects is tremors.  It is heart breaking. 

And through this all, I keep in mind the fact that there are children out there faring far worse than my Liam.  That there are parents out there far more tired than I am.  I am truly grateful that I am coping.  I am so blessed to have Liam as my son.  He is an amazing little man that astounds me daily with his achievements, his art and his thoughts.

I am on edge, but that is where you get the best view.

Kindy-Men

My boys go to kindy now which is why I can get some crafting done.

Liam loves it, goes twice a week.

Dean doesn't love it but seems to tolerate it.  This makes me sad and I don't know how long I should persevere.  He goes only once a week. 

But aren't they cute?  Mmm, I'm so in love with my toddler terrorists.

Seizures

Even though I have welcomed 2012 with open arms and some abandonment for the year that was, I have met two challenges.

Liam has been showing some sign of food intolerance.  Stomach cramps, loose bowels, dark shadows around eyes.  So I began what I thought would be a long process of elimination and re-introduction.  I started with wheat, and it appears that wheat is indeed the culprit.  Since we have removed, all but eliminated it completely from his diet, Liam has improved tremendously.  However, when he does get the odd amount it affects him far worse than before.  Hmmm, down side of dealing with intolerances I guess.

But that is not all that Liam has to deal with.  Back in January, Liam suffered a seizure at his kindy.  No fever, no over heating, no obvious trigger.  He was simply falling asleep and then twitched and shook for 3 mins, turned blue, frothed at the mouth and stopped breathing.  He regained his breathing and went into a deep deep sleep for 30 mins. 

I have since realised that he has had other seizures prior that I thought were bad dreams caused by last year's stress.  He has also had at least one more at home although we didn't see it, just the strange aftermath.  It seems they are happening in his sleep.  Luckily, at kindy they see him when he is sleeping.  When I put Liam to sleep at home, I leave him in his room alone otherwise he wouldn't sleep (highly distracted 3.5 year old!)

MRI and EEG have both come back showing no signs of tumours or vascular problems.  There was a worry that his haemangioma on his face could indicate that there was one on his brain also.  They don't know what is wrong.  So far it is no big deal but it does scare me.

"Never washing my hands again"

We took the boys on a train ride through Queens Park in Maryborough last week.  Liam got a stamp on his hand that he couldn't stop staring at.  He wouldn't let me wash his hands because he didn't want it to wash off.

I have since penned on another one which he has named "Thomas" (yeah, original I know!) and that one is fading too.  So he has asked for another, but this time in red pen.  I love that he is easily pleased.

And while I am talking about my #1 Son, he has accomplished the toilet.  Yay, finally.  Actually, it only took 2 days with only 3 accidents all up (including a poo-filled pair of undies . . . g.r.o.s.s.).  He doesn't even wet his nappy at night.  So we can now save some serious dollars and decrease our carbon footprint a tad . . . yippeee.

My brave new life

Oh wow!  I have not blogged in quite a while and in my absence a couple of delightful curious creatures have bravely joined my rambling blog.  Hello to all!  Welcome and to the rest of my dear readers, thanks for sticking by me.  Do I need to re-introduce myself? Hahaha

I will give you a brief update.

Early July Rick, my two boys and I, dug up sticks, packed it all into a container (for storage) while we hiked it up the Pacific Highway to beautiful and sunny Queensland.  The winter here is a delightful spring for Sydney and I hear, since we left Port Stephens, the rain has barely stopped there.  I will not gloat any further as I will be paying for it come summer!!  Sweat, chaffing and heat-induced drowsiness come to mind . . . the locals tell me you get used to it, but may take a couple of summers . . . yikes. Oh and probably no baking or knitting!  What's a girl to do?!

We are blessed to be house-minding until mid October, thinking this would give us plenty of time to find work, save and then move into a rental.  Well, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of rentals but there is a massive shortage of something else, WORK!  Yes, 4 days after arriving I hear the news that Wide Bay (Hervey Bay) has the highest unemployment in  . . . wait for it . . . all of Australia!  Sheesh.  And they are just the reported figures from Centrelink.  That does not include those unregistered (ie me), partners of those on Centrelink who may be looking for work or those who can only get 8hrs/wk but want more.  IT IS REALLY BLEAK.  People with horticultural degrees get interviews for lawn mowing jobs (I kid you not, it is true!).  Employers have never had it so good!  I even heard last week that degree graduates are going for traineeships where once upon a time a school-leaver would qualify.

I have been networking like a crazy woman for the past 4 weeks.  Rick and I have been praying.  This is a trial and a test of faith.  But I know that this time will pass and it will be a distant memory- oh to be at that point already!

So as you can see, I am returning to work after 3 years of bringing up babies and working part time from home.  Rick's body needs a break, my brain needs a recharge so we are swapping roles.  Well, that is the plan anyway.  So far we are both stay at home parents and the kids seem to love it.

I am sad to say that I have not done anything crafty in weeks.  Does that mean I am not a true crafter afterall?  Hope not.  The sewing machines are in storage, my hand sewing (hexagons) also got packed but I kept out a little knitting and mending.  Just have not been inspired.

And last but not least, Liam turned 3 and in preparation for this little milestone, we are attempting toilet training again for the umpteenth time.  So far, he's coming along well.  Lots of wee-wees from "his tunnel" as he likes to call it (hey whatever works) but he is refusing to poo and I fear a back-log is going to come forth when we least expect it!

Got any good tips for getting a toddler to poo on the toilet?

xxx Fi

One of My Favourites :: Vegetable Mulligatawny

Liam loves to eat vegetables- if they don't look like vegetables!  Our diet is 95% vegetarian, so you can see the dilemma I have.  While Rick, Dean and I happily fix the vegetable feed bag on every night, Liam has to have 'gourmet vegies'.  I usually just give him a vegetable puree that contains legumes, poured over pasta (it's vegetable sauce Liam!) but I am always trying to get him to eat it in its more natural state . . . trying, yes, it is trying!

So the latest discovery is this delish dish for winter

I have adapted it from Delia's (who adapted it from Eliza Acton 1840 vintage!) as seen in this book.

But this is what I do:

Vegetable Mulligatawny

3 large onions, chopped
3-4 zucchini, diced
1 large potato, diced
1 large kumera (red sweet potato), diced
1 tin diced tomatoes
50g butter
seeds from 3 cardamom pods
1 tsp each of cumin seeds and coriander seeds
1 cup basmati rice, boiled
1/2 cup red lentils, cooked (I throw these in with the rice into the rice cooker)
850 mL vegetable stock
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan, then add onions.  Cook slowly over medium heat until brown and slightly caramelized.  I tend to put the onions on and then commence to chop the other vegies.

Place spices into a small frying pan and dry roast for 2-3 minutes or until the seeds jump and pop a little.  Tip them into a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder, then add to the onions.

Next, add all vegetables and tomatoes to the saucepan and cook gently, covered until soft which will be about 20-30 mins.

This next step is optional.  If you want a smooth soup (as pictured), add stock and puree vegetables using a stick blender or pour into a conventional blender.  I have served it chunky, hence I cooked the rice and lentils in one operation with the vegetables, but only half a bowl was eaten by Liam. 

Add the cooked rice and lentils to the puree and stir.

I served this dish up four times in one week, twice to impromtu guests- Julie, it was diary-free when I made it for you, just used olive oil. We think it is very yummy and as you can see, Mr Fussy himself ate it all up!

Do you have to hide your vegetables too?  What's your favourite hidden vegetable dish?

xxx

Homemade Hair do

It is hopefully the last night of this nasty heatwave.  It is 2 am and I am not sleeping as it is a) 30.5 degrees celsius outside right now, so inside add a degree to two and b) both my sons have contracted some nasty cold with an ever so charming smoker's cough . . . poor little men.

I should be sleeping but I thought, 'what the hey, I may aswell tell you about my latest disaster'

You know, I swore to myself that I would never hack at my children's hair like I thought my mother had done to me and my sister.  She would keep cutting until she got it even!  Check out my super short fringe. . .

I'm about 8 or 9 years old - in my friend's bedroom with her toys

Was it impatience, or did I wriggle and carry on?  Did she just have an unsteady hand or dare I say it, was she vindictive as I wasn't always the angel? (despite appearances, hee hee)

The eyes say it all . . . "Mummy what have you done?!"

Yes.  I have done the same to my son!  Oh the shame - not of him, never of him.  The shame that I have done what I promised myself I'd never do. 

Side profile, just so you can see the real extent of the damage!

But come on! He's the biggest wriggler, squirmerer, whinger EVER!  I really did feel like I was hacking at it.  It wasn't the first time, (eighth time?  He's always been hairy), so you'd think I'd have it down pat.  Two attempts and this is what comes of it.  He screamed the whole way through, but once you start you can't stop!  It has to be completed!!

His giant brother (25 years older), is getting married in March and Liam is a page boy.  Fingers crossed it will grow out by then.

Why did I cut it myself?  Am I too stingy to pay $10?  No!  I just didn't want the public tantrum!

And I now realise that my Mum did a darn good job at cutting my hair!

Have you ever done the same to your children?  Do you have a fail safe plan for either home do's or avoiding tantrums at the hairdressers?  Please share!!