IHC?

Bloggers are curious as to who is making the pilgrimage to IHC, so here's my report...

I have come to these conclusions concerning taking children to the convention:

One child at IHC = adorable and fun
Two children at IHC = cute and manageable
Three children at IHC = "I'll never, ever, ever do this again!"
Four children at IHC = Probably about like having three children at IHC only with the addition of breastfeeding and poopy diapers...hmmm

Where's my sense of adventure, you ask?
Right up there with my sense of self-preservation!

Anyway, in all seriousness, IHC has always played an pretty important part in my life. Some years I've just gone for the fellowship...admit it, you have too...but fellowship is an important part of passing the heritage of holiness to our kids. I think this will be my 32nd IHC - I was still receiving "womb service" at the 1976 convention! As kids it was a highlight of our year, and now my children wouldn't miss it for anything.

Our plans will be a little different this time. With a growing family, things become slightly more difficult:
Motel room = 2 beds/6 people. You do the math. Instead we will be there on Wednesday evening, make the 50 min. drive home, and will do the same Thursday morning. This will save mounds of packing, a sleepless night, and grumpy, noisy kids at a hotel! We are blessed to have easy access to Dayton (we are less than 2 miles from I-75), so this should be a fairly painless option, providing safe travels.

Here's to three days of Arby's and Spagetti Warehouse! (If you get ambitious, bring your gym shoes and hike on over to Uno Chicago or Quizno's. I guarantee you'll walk off your lunch before you get back to the convention center!)
Oh, and if you see one of my boys bungee jumping off the bleachers, tell him to quit acting like his dad. :)

Mixed Emotions...

yes, I'm a woman, therefore I'm allowed to have those! Life is not always filled with pleasantness, there are many disappointments, too. I have two things today for which I am very thankful! After Monday's post, Allison became very sick. By Tuesday morning, she was very lifeless, carrying a low-grade temp, and moaning with every breath. I was able to get her into the doctor 1st thing, and although they didn't give a distinct diagnosis, they put her on antibiotic. Her right ear did have some redness. Over the last two days she has had high temps off and on, lots of head congestion, and no appetite. I was fearful of dehydration yesterday, as she had very few wet diapers and wasn't taking much liquid. She hasn't started baby food yet, so milk is her only sustinance, and she wasn't taking it from either me or the bottle. Throughout yesterday evening she perked up somewhat, and ate off and on throughout the night. Today her temp is 98.9 without Tylenol! She is resting peacefully, taking her nourishment, and smiling as before. Thank the Lord! I'm still going to have fun getting amoxicillin down her 3x daily for another 8 days. She hates it, clenches her gums, then blows it all over the place once it is in her mouth! Ugh!
For those of you who have kept up with my blog from the beginning, you may remember my comments about some research I did for a class last summer. I wrote on the topic of polygamy in the church of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, and mentioned my disgust as to how this type of community could legally exist in the USA. With the amount of sexual abuse that takes place within the walls of the compounds, it just amazed me that more was not done to stop the criminal behavior. As I'm sure you've heard, a 16-year-old girl finally was able to call authorities with information on which they could legally act. All the things I read about are now broadcast on major news networks, and the anchors are acting stunned that this wretched behavior has been occuring. For the sake of the 400+ children who have been "rescued" from this lifestyle, I am so thankful. My heart is heavy for the children who have children (14-year-old girls w/3 kids of their own...). How they will be placed by Child Protective Services, God only knows. I know we are far detached from their circumstances, but I'm sure our prayers for them won't go unheard.
Well, I know this post wasn't much, but it's probably all I'll have for a couple of days due to an essay and a mid-term exam facing me before the weekend. Thanks for all of your prayers for the kids!

Monday Mumblings...

Hey! I trust all of you have had a great start to your work week. Knock on wood, nothing wild or crazy happened today, and we made it to school just fine! The dr. never called with a positive strep test on Ryan, so that is a relief. He and Kaitlynn are still on antibiotics, and will hopefully be in A+ shape real soon. Kaitlynn has her follow-up dr. appt. this afternoon. Allison has head congestion now, but by the way she is chewing on her bottom lip it may just be the start of teething. Yea!
Some friends at church told me that they love reading my blog because it is like a soap opera...dramatic, I guess. In an effort to maximize the soap opera effect, I share this with you. A couple of weeks ago, Greg had a nightmare...he was VERY SCARED when he awoke. What was it, you ask? His dear wife took off with some guy from Illinois and left him with 4 kids! I laughed hysterically when he told me this...the mental picture was just too much! Anyway, hope you enjoyed that tidbit, and no, I have no interest in leaving my husband or my four children, so rest easy, Greg!

Another Day...

We are all at home again today. Results of the boys' dr. visits are as follows:
Ryan was tested for strep. They have not called to say the test was positive, so I'm holding my breath...he is on antibiotic anyway. Evan has some sort of infection on his skin, which we are now treating with antibiotic cream. Kaitlynn had a bad evening again yesterday. She is better this morning, so I'm trying to push intake as much as possible. She gets rather aggravated at my forcefulness, but doesn't quite understand the need for it. I explain it this way, "Do you want the water in your mouth or through the tube in your hand?" That usually gets her to cooperate for a few minutes!
I needed to run to the church this afternoon to do a counseling session as part of my practicum for class. I had everything loaded into the van, and when I turned the key, a sound resembling a machine gun erupted from under the hood. Greg said the battery needs charged...I'm holding my breath...
Now that I've done MUCH complaining, there are many things for which I can be thankful:
1. We are all alive!
2. None of this happened while mom and dad were in Cayman.
3. Grandma Yount is between jobs and was able to help us for a couple of days.
4. All of the meds have had generic substitues, two of them being $4 WalMart drugs!
There is more, but I need to finish tidying my house while the kids are quiet. HA!

Update

I'm sorry I didn't keep everyone informed about Kaitlynn's progress. Things became rather busy, and it just didn't get done! She was discharged from the hospital around 5:30 Monday evening. Her heart rate was in the 80's, temp was down, and she was taking fluids orally. At home now her heart rate is back up around 120 at rest, and her temp spikes every few hours. I am taking the boys to the dr in about 20 minutes, so we will see what goes there. They don't seem really sick, but I'm nervous. I'm going to ask about Kaitlynn's current condition while I'm there. Knock on wood, Allison seems healthy as can be. My Grandma Yount came from Cincinnati on Monday to help me. She was with Allison, Kaitlynn and I at the hospital, then watched both of them while I ran errands Tuesday afternoon. Kaitlynn spent the night with her last night, as I am at school today (for a few minutes).
Please continue to pray. We're definitely not out of the woods yet!