Ear Problems

What a weekend. Friday night at dinner Allie's ears started hurting so bad she was in tears. She and I left our dinners on the table and left for Urgent Care right then and there. She's now on an antibiotic for a double ear infection and possible strep throat. I say 'possible' because since Isaac had it a few weeks ago, they wanted to treat her just to be safe. Urgent Care was super busy and we didn't get out of there until 2 hours later. Thankfully, the ibuprofen I gave her had taken her pain away while we were waiting or else it would've been really horrible to have a crying, whining child in the waiting room and not be able to do much about it.

Saturday was fun. It rained all day and so we played boardgames, Uno, and games on the Wii.

Sunday morning we went to church at 10:45 am instead of the usual 4:30pm time. I woke up so tired that morning and I could hardly wake up even though it was 9am. We were planning to have some friends over for dinner, but unfortunately, it started sleeting and the roads were getting bad so they cancelled. It's just as well, since I developed an earache in the afternoon and had to go to Urgent Care. The physician's assistant said my eardrum looked white instead of red. I said, it really does hurt! So he prescribed an antibiotic for me anyway. After I got back from the doctor and the pharmacy, I blew my nose and the pain in my ear went through the roof. (I didn't know until afterwards that you're not supposed to blow your nose when you have an earache.) Shane had a hot water bottle ready for me and I sat down with it and tried to relax. A few minutes later, my eardrum burst. Wow, did that ever hurt. It brought tears to my eyes. My ear bled for about two hours and continued to drain fluid. I called Urgent Care and talked to the physician's assistant who saw me and I happened to mention that I have scar tissue on that eardrum. He said, "Oh, no wonder it was white! I couldn't see the infection because of the scar tissue. You should see your ENT." So, now I have an appointment with my ENT for Thursday afternoon. I want to make sure my eardrum heals properly, especially since there's so much scar tissue on it already. The ENT's nurse said my eardrums burst because of a sinus infection. I thought that was interesting. She seemed more concerned about my sinuses than my ears. I don't think anything can be done about my sinuses, however, because my CAT scan results were normal. If you ask me, something's not right with my eustacian tubes. They never drain the way they're supposed to. I hope Thursday's appointment goes well and that the ENT and I can communicate clearly so we can understand what's going on and how to treat it. I wonder if there's a way to get rid of the scar tissue. I can hardly wait for Thursday!

I can see clearly now....

Welcome to the new Allison, full of confidence and excitement that she is no longer the only Bentz in our household who doesn't wear glasses. She is very stoked about them and wears them religiously.

She is also very protective of them. When she needs to take them off, she is very careful with them and makes sure she puts them in her new glasses case.

And in case it isn't obvious by what you know of Allison, her glasses are even etched with the Barbie logo along the side.

Happy New Year!

It's been awhile since I last wrote. Here's what's been going on in the Bentz household.

• I registered Allie for Kindergarten this week. We went to the District Office to drop off the forms and I turned to Allie and said, "That's it. You're now registered for Kindergarten!" Allie jumped up and down and said,"Hooray! Can I ride on the bus with Isaac tomorrow?" I told her, "Not yet. You have to finish preschool first and then you'll go to Kindergarten in the Fall."
• We are under a Wind Chill Warning from 6pm tonight (Wed.) through noon Friday. Area schools are expected to be cancelled. Tomorrow's high is minus 5 degrees and the wind chills are expected to be between 35 and 45 below zero. Even if school isn't cancelled, I'm keeping Isaac home!
• Isaac and I went to Cub Scouts last night. He decorated some lovely votive candleholders and colored a page that showed the Food Guide Pyramid. Afterwards we went to the library to get some books and videos to ward off any cabin fever we might get in the next few days.
• Last Friday we had friends over to watch our favorite TV show "Psych" and play a board game called Settlers of Catan, which I got for Christmas. We had a great time. The game went for an hour or two and we opened a bottle of wine which I got for Christmas from Dad and Diane. It was good red wine from Steuben County, IN, called 101 Lakes.
• Allie has her first eye doctor appointment coming up in a week or two. It's not required for addmission to Kindergarten, but they strongly recommend it. I'm curious to see what her vision is, because we're forever telling her to back away from the tv.
• Isaac seems to be doing well in school. He's reading at a 2nd grade level. I wish he enjoyed reading as much as I do. I can only get him to read the books he brings home for homework. Otherwise, he wants me to read to him. I bought him some chapter books recently to try to peak his interest. Some of them are simplified versions of books like "Treasure Island" and there's also a book about the history of chocolate, which he loved.
• I have an appoinment with my ear doctor in a few weeks to test my hearing and talk about whether I qualify for ear surgery yet. In case you forgot or didn't know, I have a dead bone in my ear that needs to be replaced when my hearing gets bad enough. Aside from temporary hearing loss from my headcold and allergies, I haven't noticed any dramatic hearing loss, so I'll be surprised if I qualify for surgery yet.
• I just finished cleaning the kids' toilet upstairs, a job I hate. Brock had an accident, which is rare and totally fine and understandable. There was pee on the floor and on the sides of the bowl, which I cleaned up. While I was there, I cleaned the toilet and the walls and floor around it because Isaac keeps missing the mark. I'm so glad I painted the walls with semi-gloss paint! Cleaning that toilet would be so much easier if he made the mark.
• I've enjoyed seeing my Mapes aunts and uncles and cousins on Facebook recently. If you don't know what Facebook is, it's a social networking website. I've been in better contact with them lately than I ever have been. What a blessing it's been to get to know my family all over again. Many of them live in the Fort Wayne area. Others live all over: Southern Indiana, San Diego, Seattle, Tucson, Ft. Sill, OK, Phoenix, and Arkansas. I've also been able to reconnect with old friends from high school and college who I thought I would never see again.
• I'm currently reading a large volume of short stories about the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as "Memoirs of a Mangy Lover" by Groucho Marx. It's not Groucho's best work; I far prefer his autobiography called "Groucho and Me," which I own a copy of and read it over and over again because it's so funny. Back to Sherlock Holmes. The stories are very interesting and often have plot twists. The stories take place in London in the late 1800's. If you know me, you know that I love English literature before 1900. They have a way of writing with such wordy conciseness (an oxymoron, I know) and they sometimes use big words that stretch one's vocabularly. Perhaps later this year I'll look into Charles Dickens' books too.
• Time to go read to Brock and Allie before naptime. Brock usually sleeps from 2 to 3:30. Allie usually stays up and plays quietly. Today, I may have her take a nap because she's been such a grouch. Wish me luck! :)

Sickness and Snowstorms

Poor Allie is sick today. This afternoon her fever climbed to 103.6. It's very rare that my kids would ever have a fever that high. I had the day off from babysitting, which is good, because I don't think I'd be able to hold Allie all day and give Brock the proper amount of attention he deserves. She's been lethargic and not eating or drinking very much until this afternoon, when she had her next dose of medicine. When it wears off, you can really tell! I'm taking her to the doctor tomorrow morning (in between snowstorms!).

Tonight we're supposed to get 3 to 6 inches of snow. Thursday, we're supposed to get 6 to 12 inches of snow. Therefore, I felt a sense of urgency to have Allie looked at by the doctor before we're snowed in! To make things worse, our temps have been in the single digits with the wind chills below zero. This December feels more like February! Last December was bad, too, and that set us on course for a record snowfall. I hope we're not in for another record snowfall this season!

The kids are picking out a movie for tonight and we're going to stay home, stay warm, and help Allie get some rest. I've been fighting a cold myself, and my head has been pounding all day. :(

Allison's 2008 Preschool Picture

Here is Allison's preschool picture this year. I love how her eyes look so blue! I plan to distribute the kids' school pictures when we come down to Indiana for Thanksgiving, which is coming up quick!

Allison's Rite of Passage (Honestly, no pun intended!)

I have a confession to make to you all: I am a terrible potty trainer. As much as I have grown weary of Pull-Ups, which are glorified diapers, I hate potty training even more. As a result, I have a 4 3/4 year old child who has no interest in using the potty.

Big deal, you might say. But it's embarrassing to have a child so big who runs up to you within earshot of other parents and says, "Mommy, I just pooped in my diaper."

At Allie's last pediatrician appointment several months ago, we talked about the situation. I explained how I tried everything: stickers, charts, incentive toys, and so on, but that she just completely lost interest. Her doctor said, "It's a power struggle. Just ask her, 'Is it time to go potty?'" That got me nowhere. Every time I asked her, the answer was always no.

Last month when the kids were sick we went back to the doctor's office and happened to see a different pediatrician -- one of those who fill in from time to time. I ashamedly told her that Allison was still in diapers at 4 1/2 years of age. She gave me the best advice: "Put her in underwear. That's it. It worked for my son. After two weeks he stayed dry all the time."
It wasn't the first time I had heard that advice. I had even tried it before. I had been loath to do it again because of how disgusting it is to rinse poop out of underwear (I actually gag) and to remove the lingering pee smell from the couch. No wonder I didn't stick with it for longer than a weekend.

Now, however, I have made a commitment to stick with this for as long as it takes. The time seems right for both of us. As of yesterday, Allison is in underwear all day long. No more using Pull-ups as a crutch for either of us. It's time to move on.

I've been doing some soul searching, trying to figure out what went wrong with potty training. Not to look for excuses or to find fault with myself, but to take an honest inside look and ask myself what the heck am I doing and why am I not doing what I feel I should be doing. I discovered that for some strange reason, change is hard for me. I can't help but blame myself for my children's delays. Just when I get my children figured out and I learn how to meet their needs, I find they've grown and their needs have changed and I have to catch up. While I may not win any awards for mother-of-the-year anytime soon, I love them earnestly and I'm convinced that they know it and that they can be secure in that knowledge. (Sniff) They're very affectionate kiddos.

So how have the first two days of underwear gone? Yesterday, which was day one, started out discouraging. After swim lessons, I put her in underwear and we went to the library. She sat down on the carpet and I asked if she had to go and she said no. A minute later, she peed right there. That was a frustrating beginning, naturally, but I am proud to say that she improved today. Today I got out some rubber pants for her to wear over her underwear to help contain any messes. They leak, but it's better than nothing and it's certainly better than diapers. She told me 6 or 7 times that she had to go potty today and actually went three or four of those times. I give her lots of hugs and when Isaac's around, we all hug each other and I say something like, "Hey, Isaac! Allie's going in the potty just like you and me! Isn't that so cool?? I'm so glad you guys use the potty." I also had to clean poop out of her underwear but it wasn't so bad now that I have faith that this will all be over in a couple of weeks of consistency.

Maybe change isn't so bad after all. It's turning out that this rite of passage for my daughter is turning out to be a rite of passage for me, too.

Back to school, back to health, back to normal

It was so good to send Isaac back to school today. I'm sure his friends will be glad to see him and he them. He's on his second day of antibiotics. He never had a fever that I noticed yesterday. He said he was tired this morning so I hope he does ok. If he's still tired after school I'll have him lie down for a while. Thank goodness it's Friday! Tomorrow Shane and Isaac are going to Walking with Dinosaurs at the coliseum. We got him tickets for his birthday back in March. He's very excited.

While the guys are at the show, Allie and I are going to the free zoo in Madison. Afterwards we'll all meet up and have dinner at Culver's. At first Allie was disappointed to miss the dinosaur show, but when we talked about what we would do with our mother daughter time, she got very excited about the possible places we could go and things we could do. We also explained that Isaac got fewer birthday presents because of the cost of tickets, and so she decided that on her birthday she'd rather have toys than see a show. :)

It feels so good to get back to normal!

Allie's ears

I was surprised to hear this afternoon that Allie has a double ear infection. She only complained of pain in one ear just this morning. She's now on an antibiotic and pain reliever.

The doctor said it's ok for Isaac to go back to school tomorrow. He's excited. I'm so relieved! It's been a long time!

Both kids are doing fine and enjoying each other's company these many days. Although I think they're starting to need a break from each other because they've been arguing a bit more than usual.

Sinus Infection

It's looking more like a sinus infection that Isaac has. His nose is getting runnier and there is more dried green mucus around his nose. (Sorry if you're grossed out by the details.) He started taking an antibiotic this morning. I made doctor appointments for both kids this afternoon. I had to make one for Allie because she has an earache, so I figured I might as well bring Isaac in, too, even though she already prescribed an antibiotic for him. I wanted to get him started on the antibiotic this morning so that he could go back to school tomorrow -- as long as his fever doesn't make another appearance this afternoon.

What's New

Some of you faithful readers have been waiting a while for another post. I apologize. Spring has sprung in Southern Wisconsin and we have been spending less time indoors. Here's a rundown of what's new in the Bentz household.

• Isaac's left tooth has finally broken through the gum. It's been awhile since he's had any teeth up there! The right tooth may take a little longer due to nerve damage that happened when he nearly knocked it out two years ago.


• We're going to have an InterVarsity intern live with us for 3 months over the summer. Her name is Sarah. She's from Virginia. We spoke over the phone and we really hit it off. I'm looking forward to meeting her in person. The rent we'll receive from her staying with us will help offset the loss of my babysitting income over the summer. Shane and I are thinking of putting her in one of the kids' rooms and moving the kids into the same room while she's here. We could put her in the roomy bonus room, but it gets very hot in the summer. However, that would probably be the best place for her if we get an air conditioner.


• Shane is building a huge shelf for our storage room in the basement. It's going to be a much nicer place to store all of our Sam's club buys. We always have plenty of paper towels, toilet paper, canned veggies and fruit, cereal, napkins, and whatnot.


• Shane's Mom and Bill came up and stayed with us last week. It was a lovely visit and we hated to see them go. The next morning at breakfast, Allie asked me, "Are Grandma and Papa coming over today?"
• Shane has two days of meetings coming up on Monday and Tuesday and will be working about 12 hours those two days. Please pray for God's will to be done as big decisions are being made that may affect him.
• Have you noticed the poll in the right-hand margin asking you to vote on whether I keep my gray hair? Well, I finally decided to color it dark brown. It was too dark at first but now it's showing some "natural" highlights. The salt and pepper look is not for me. Maybe in a few years when I have more gray, I'll let it go au naturelle. For now, I'm going to have to be chained to the coloring bottle.
• I'm still doing exercise classes at the gym. I'm not losing any weight but at least I'm gaining muscle and building endurance. If only I could break my love affair with sweets, I might get somewhere!
• Shane bought a big HD tv recently. It's for the basement when we get it finished. For now, it's on our dresser. I love sitting on our bed folding laundry with the tv on.
• I have one more Stampin' Up! workshop to do next month, and then I'm retiring. I'll keep selling Stampin' Up! products for anyone who wants to place an order, but no more workshops for me. As long as I still sell $300 a quarter to meet my sales quota, I'll keep my active status. For right now, I'll be able to place orders through the end of the year. After that, I don't yet know.
• I got a laptop for my birthday last week. It's been nice to take it all over the house and even outside while the kids are playing. No more wondering what the kids are up to downstairs while I'm using the computer. Now I can go where they go. It's pretty sweet! Thank you, Bill, Kay, and Shane!
• Allison is doing a great job writing her name and is showing more of an interest in words. She likes to put a bunch of letter magnets together and ask me, "Mom, what does this spell?"
• I signed the kids up for a slew of summer school classes in July. Both kids will take swim class at the Oregon Pool. Allison will also take a pre-Kindergarten class for 4-year-olds. Isaac has an earth science class and a math game class. Isaac will also be in t-ball. He's excited about it. I can't wait to take some home video of one of his games! By the way, summer school here in Oregon is nothing like the remedial bore that I had to endure as a kid. It's very popular here, and classes fill up in minutes. Our school system has a lot to offer and I'm so glad we're in it!
• Shane and I went out to dinner for my birthday. That morning I had a restaurant in mind but I couldn't remember the name of it. So I searched online and made reservations and that night we went there. Only it wasn't the restaurant I thought it was. On the way, we actually passed the restaurant I had in mind but couldn't remember the name of. But we decided to check the other place out. It turned out to be a super fancy place. We just about died when we saw the prices on the menu. The average dinner was $50. That's just for one person. I was like, my birthday isn't worth this much! So we made up an excuse to the hostess and left. We went to the other place and was told that the wait was 45 minutes! Yikes! We called the sitter to let her know we might be late and we even debated going to yet another restaurant, but everything turned out ok because we were seated after only 20 minutes. It was a delicious Italian meal. I never had spinach fettucine noodles before, and now I'm hooked. Yum.
• Our dear friends Nathan and Kelli and their one-year-old son Eli are coming over for brunch tomorrow morning, so I'd better hit the hay or I'm going to be toast in the morning! Ha ha! Later!

Influenza

Wow...Where have the last few weeks gone? Shane and I got over our cold viruses a couple of weeks ago that was probably influenza. The kids and I got our flu shots but apparently, it was the wrong strain and we ended up getting it anyway. Fooey.

Allison has had influenza this week along with impetigo, a very contagious but small rash near her mouth. She missed school this week and I missed three and a half days of babysitting (as well as the income I would've gotten from it). Oh, well. C'est la vie! (That's life!) She's doing much better now, but earlier in the week she had some awful coughing fits that went on and on as well as a fever that went up and down. The influenza really seemed to wreak havoc with her lungs. Shane and I took turns rocking her at night. She tested negative for strep. Now she's on two inhalers for coughing, children's Motrin for fever, an antibiotic ointment for impetigo, and a children's decongestant and antihistamine. It's been a long week and I myself am ready for my afternoon nap. (I put both kids down for naps at the same time. I actually nap with Allison in my bed, while Brock naps in hers.) Taking care of a sick child for a few days has left me a little run down. I can't tell you how many times she coughed in my face when I rocked her half asleep. My throat feels a little swollen and I feel tired. Hopefully, that'll be the extent of it, because I think I already had influenza this year.

Isaac has stayed healthy this week. He's been doing well in school, although he and a few friends got in trouble for goofing off in the bathroom this week and missed a whole day's recesses. He still enjoys his schoolwork, playing games of all sorts, collecting quarters, watching the Discovery Channel, and counting the days until his birthday (nine days). He's especially excited about his birthday falling on Easter this year, March 23rd. I think he's imagining a sugar heaven of birthday cake, ice cream, jellybeans and chocolate bunnies. He'll be six years old. I'm not throwing another big party for him this year, so we'll probably go to Chuck E. Cheese's as a family.

Take care, everyone, and if it's been awhile since I heard from you, please drop me a line! I'd love to hear from you!

Isn't she lovely?

Allie posed herself for these pictures, saying, "I'm a kitty cat. My name is Serafina." She's so sweet. I just love her.

Kids in the Pool

We've had hot weather this week in Southcentral Wisconsin. Temps in the high '80's. All three kids, Isaac, Allison, and Brock (read below for his introduction) enjoyed the pool for about 30 minutes today. They were good and worn out for naptime.

The bugs have been terrible around here. The moment you step outside, you get a dozen mosquitoes, grasshoppers, and bees swirling around your head. The spiders must be having a field day with so much to eat. The grasshoppers are the size of my little finger. I can hardly stand to take the kids outside at the moment. I wonder how long it will be until it frosts...a month? Right now our overnight temps are in the 50's. I'm SO ready for Fall! A small number of trees are already showing some color at the very tops. Mmmm... I can almost smell that Fall air already.

We had a cricket on our carpet last night. It was almost funny watching Shane attempt to swat it. If you've ever tried to use a flyswatter on carpet, you'll know what I mean. It wasn't working. He swats, it jumps; he swats, it jumps; etc, for five minutes. Looking back, it was funny, but at the time, I was really squeamish. To me, crickets are worse than spiders. They kinda look like spiders, but they jump unpredictably. That freaks me out.

Pictures of Allison

So far Allison has been underrepresented in my blog. My apologies, Allie! Here are the highlights from the last few months. She is so CUTE!!! I can't help kissing those rosy cheeks several times a day.