What Jenna Ate In A Day

I've done quite a few "What I Ate In a Day" posts over the years, but I'm not sure I've ever done one for Jenna. So today I documented everything she ate. Now, a few things about Jenna's eating habits. She is by far my best eater. Both in terms of quantity and variety of foods. She is generally willing to try new foods and she has a taste for much healthier foods than her brothers. She likes to say she is "just like Mommy!" because we often like the same types of flavors. Lately Jenna has been eating so much food, so I figured it was a good time to blog about it.....and then today she didn't eat a lot! Ha, I guess that's the way it goes.

Breakfast

This morning Jenna had a bowl of cheerios topped with milk....with a side of milk in a cup. 

After her cheerios she ate 2 breakfast sausages. This is the sausage I grew up eating and I'm glad all 6 of us like it. (Ryan has been pretty sick this week so I was happy when he actually ate a sausage this morning!)

Then Jenna saw me cutting a grapefruit, and she begged me for some. She ended up eating half my grapefruit, including all the fruit segments and the juice.

 Snack
Jenna had preschool today, and they made donuts because they are learning about the letter D. She came home and told me she had 2 donuts at school!

 Lunch
Jenna wasn't terribly hungry for lunch today (those donuts!). Usually she will eat quite a bit more at lunchtime. Most days when I ask what she wants, her reply is "Just surprise me!". She is so cute. Then when I present her with her lunch plate she will usually gasp and get a huge grin on her face. She gets excited about food just like her Mommy! Here was the plate of food I fixed her today....cucumbers with Italian dressing, cheese and crackers, and some black beans. She ate all her cucumbers plus a few more, but nothing else. (Garbanzo beans are her beans of choice. She can EAT those!)

I'm pretty sure she ate some of these whole wheat animal crackers during the afternoon, but I didn't actually see.

 Dinner
This is the plate of food I served to Jenna. A homemade chicken patty, milk, broccoli topped with some butter, and quinoa topped with parmesan. Oh and some pickles because she requested them.

And here was her plate after dinner. She loves quinoa, especially with parmesan, so she attempted to eat all of it. She ate her pickles (plus 2 more), and she ate her broccoli. She tried a bite of her chicken but said she didn't like it.

I just need to mention these Grillo's Pickles. They are SO GOOD. Have you ever noticed that most jarred pickles contain preservatives and food coloring? These can be found in the refrigerated section and they have very fresh healthy ingredients, including grape leaves and whole garlic cloves. Jenna and I can't stop eating them!

And that was what Jenna ate in a day! It wasn't as much as usual, so I bet she will wake up extra hungry tomorrow and ask for oatmeal topped with cream and peanut butter. Her favorite way to eat it!

Ryan's Sharks Room

Welcome to Ryan's new San Jose Sharks room!

Ryan's room is officially downstairs, formerly known as the "Grandma room".

A while back Adam painted the room Sharks teal, so it only made sense to turn it into a sharks hockey themed room once Ryan moved down here.

 Luckily we had a bunch of Sharks paraphernalia laying around. Blankets, rally towels, and posters. (And in all honesty, Adam did all the decorating. I came home one day and the entire room was decorated!)

 I found the shark pillowcase at Target, and we ordered the comforter off of Amazon.

Ryan loves his room and I think it is going to be age-appropriate for many years to come. (Unless he stops being a Sharks fan!)

This is the only unfinished part of the room. In that corner we plan on getting Ryan a small white desk where he can draw and do homework. However, I don't want to encourage him to spend lots of time in his room by himself. I know those years will come, and I enjoy having him out with the rest of the family, drawing on the dining room table. We also need to get him some curtains but I can't figure out what color to get. We ordered dark gray curtains but they ended up looking lavender so I returned them.

Mixed in with the Sharks décor are some of Adam's mustang items. Our plan is to someday redecorate Lucas' room to be a Mustang room. So these items will be moved upstairs.

 I love the flag above the door!

This closet was filled with random stuff before Ryan moved down here. So we installed a closet organizer and moved out most of our other junk to make room for Ryan's clothes and other items.

I love the little laundry basket that came with the organizer. Now if only Ryan would remember to actually place his dirty clothes in there.....

 So that's a little look at Ryan's newly decorated Sharks room! I love how it turned out!

Hurry Up and Wait a Second

"Hurry up". "Wait a second". I'm pretty sure those are my most used phrases with my kids. Ugh, anyone else feel the same? I'm either trying to get them to hurry up because we are late to somewhere. Or they are asking me for something and I'm busy, so I'm telling them to wait.

When did life start to feel so busy? I honestly can't remember. Was it just since having baby #4? Or is it just the way every adult feels these days?

From the minute I wake up it feels like I'm racing against the clock to get everything done. I'm trying to get half of us fed, dressed, and out the door by 7:30. Then I'm hurrying to get as much cleaning/errands/random house or kid stuff done while the boys are at school. Then once they are home it's an afternoon crazy zone of snacks/homework/sports/play/make dinner. In the evenings we begin the assembly line of dinner, baths, reading, and clean up....all while trying to get the kids in bed by a reasonable 8pm. And even if they are all in bed sound asleep and it's 9pm, I am still feeling rushed to hurry up and relax! because I know the baby will wake up any minute.

Now, I don't think you would notice from looking at me on the outside. But inside, my mind is constantly whirling, thinking about what needs to be done next. Any other Moms??

The other day I could tell Lucas just seemed "off". He was grumpy and kind of keeping to himself. So once Adam was home I went and sat with him for a solid 30 minutes, without any other kids around. We talked, read, played.....and his mood was drastically improved half an hour later. It felt so nice to just sit with him and not tell him "just a minute".

I've been trying to be more intentional with our time together as a family. I want our family time to feel as peaceful and unrushed as possible. (as much as you can accomplish that with little kids!) Dinnertime is really important to me, and I try to make it something we sit down together for almost every single night. One thing we have started to do is a family memory verse. We have a Bible verse written on our chalkboard and during the week we each try to memorize it, and then practice saying it at dinnertime.

We have also started doing "family reading time" in the evenings. Both older boys need to read for school, so I figured we could all try to do silent reading together as a family. The other night we each took our books out to the back deck and read for around 20-30 minutes. (Andrew looked at books and played). You guys....it was SO nice! I know it isn't something we will find time for every night, but I definitely want to do these types of things more often. It just felt so peaceful and unrushed.

Hey Mom, stop and smell the flowers, ok!?

Seasonal and Halloween Books

I hauled out our Fall/Halloween decorations from the attic today and spent some time decorating the house. I love seeing how my kids get excited to see decorations that they remember from previous years. I especially love seeing them get excited about our seasonal books. Each year when I pack away the seasonal décor, I also pack away their holiday books. I do the same thing after Christmas. I think it helps to keep those books extra special. Every year I try to add a new book to our collection, and I thought some of you may want to do the same. So here is my list of our current favorite Fall/Autumn/Halloween books!

Creepy Carrots

Ahhh creepy carrots is definitely one of my favorites! I wouldn't say it's a holiday book, but it's a little cute and a little creepy, so I'm including it. Jasper Rabbit really loves carrots....until the day the carrots start creeping around behind his back. All of my big kids love this book, and I especially love the old black-and-white movie look of the illustrations.


Skeleton Hiccups

Skeleton hiccups is a simple little story about a skeleton who has the hiccups. It's cute and not at all scary. The wording and storyline are very simple, and I like that it's a book Ryan or Lucas can read to their younger siblings. (They love the part where the water comes out through his eye sockets!)


Room on the Broom

This one is just a cute little story about a witch on her broomstick. The wind blows away her hat and a couple other items, and some helpful animals come along to retrieve her items. But is there room on her broom for them? You'll have to read it to find out!

Five Little Ghosts

We have had this book (and the next one) for a few years now and they are still favorites. These rhyming books are great for Jenna and Andrew. I like that they are padded and the pages are sturdy enough that Andrew won't rip them.

Five Black Cats

Again, just a cute little rhyming book that is a little spooky but not at all scary. Perfect for 4 and under. I think my Mom gave us these!

Bonaparte Falls Apart

This one is new to us this year and such a cute story! Bonaparte is literally falling apart and his friends (with fun names like Black Widow and Franky Stein) try to help put him back together. This is one all my kids love, and I think the illustrations are all really cute.

Sleep Tight Farm

This is our other new book, and it's so new that it hasn't arrived yet! This one caught my eye because it reminded me of a book I might have had as a child. The book goes through how a farm prepares for Winter. The illustrations look captivating, and I'm pretty sure that reading this book to my kids will make me want to move to a farm! I also love that this isn't holiday-specific, but instead a way to teach my kids about the changing seasons.

What books do you read to your kids this time of year?


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Andrew: 18 Months

Andrew you are 18 months old! This post is a little bit overdue, but hey....you're baby #4 so that's how it goes sometimes!

Yesterday you had your 18-month checkup and I had zero concerns to discuss with your doctor. You weighed in at 23 pounds, which is the exact weight Ryan was at this age. I'm not sure what your growth percentile is, but Ryan's was 13% for weight, so it's safe to say you are a little guy!

I took this picture of you the other night in the bathtub and then immediately decided to give you a haircut. It wasn't easy but I think it turned out ok!

Andrew you are by far my most curious, into-everything toddler! I can't take my eyes off of you for a second. You empty drawers, find dangerous things to climb on, play with the garbage can, and pretty much make messes all day long.

We had an interruption in our nursing relationship last week when I was on antibiotics. But we are slowly getting back to normal now. I am trying to NOT nurse you in the middle of the night, and so far you seem to understand me when I say "all gone". But then you proceed to whine and whimper all night. It's tiring!

Your first selfie!

Likes: playing outside, drinking from everyone's cups, playing with balls, Grandpa, music, playing with your siblings, putting things on your head

Dislikes: diaper changes, most fruits, being ignored

You have so many words now! Just a month or two ago we were wondering if you would ever start talking. Then all of a sudden you are copying everything we say. ball, outside, Papa, I want that, no, milk, wawa, go, boom, uh-oh, gar (car), hi, bye-bye, dada, mama, what that, toot, poop, taco, all done, more...…..

I would describe your personality right now as busy and curious and goofy, with a little temper mixed in. You are really playful and like to be in on the action with your siblings. But if I can't give you my attention or if don't get what you want, you will screech and try to throw or hit. And yes you've got the Nullmeyer arm! I'd say you are a good mix of your brothers. Not as serious as Ryan was at this age, but also not as aggressive as Lucas was. You're just Andrew!

Drewski-man (as Lucas calls you) we love you so much! You are the little puzzle piece we didn't know our family was missing. You are at such a busy and fun age, and I love watching you change every day. Happy 18 months!

Jenna Starts Preschool

Jenna started preschool last week!

This girl has been ready for quite a while now. She has seen her big brothers walk down the street to preschool and she has even come along with me when I have volunteered in their class. She was SO excited to begin school herself this year!

Isn't her new Minnie Mouse backpack so cute? And her teeny tiny braid!

In fact, she packed up her new backpack a few weeks ago, complete with a lunchbox filled with snacks. She was so disappointed when she realized it wasn't quite time to go yet! (And that she wouldn't need her lunchbox for another couple years!)

When Jenna officially began last week I was really sick. So I took these pictures this week when I officially got to walk her to school for the first time. After her first day of school she was pretty quiet and reluctant to share details. But ever since she has been telling me ALL about her mornings there.

I pray Jenna has a great first year of preschool. I hope she makes some good friends and has the best time playing and learning. My big girl!

Flu and Armageddon Part 2

If you missed Part 1 you can read it here. So it's late Friday night and Adam and I are headed back to the ER. Once we get checked in they take some blood and I talk to a doctor who thinks we should have seen improvement by now from the antibiotics. She draws a line around the affected area on my arm so we can more easily tell if it is growing.

We are put in a little waiting area until the nurse comes to get me. She takes me to X-Ray where the technician can't stop commenting on how she has NEVER seen anything like my arm. So reassuring! I think they were checking for air under my skin, but the results came back normal. After that the nurse takes me and says they are going to try giving me Benadryl in my IV and see if it brings down the swelling. It only takes a minute, and then she tells me to go back to the waiting area where Adam is.

I got about halfway across the room and it starts to tilt. I stumbled over to my chair next to Adam, put my head between my legs, and told him I was going to pass out. I told him to go get the nurse. He started asking about my purse and I told him to JUST GET THE NURSE! haha. I remember this from when I've been in labor. I hate being asked unnecessary questions when I'm in pain or not feeling well. I just felt so dizzy and lightheaded and didn't think I could even sit up.

She immediately came in and they got me on a gurney in the hallway. And then I started shivering violently. I was covered in goosebumps so they brought me a blanket. I don't know if it was a reaction from the Benadryl or more of a stress-related reaction to almost passing out. After my shaking calmed down I tried to explain to Adam what had just happened. But I couldn't. I felt drugged. I asked the nurse if this was the same Benadryl I've taken before for allergies, and she assured me it was. I just felt confused. And groggy. I guess the Benadryl hit my bloodstream really quickly. I remember trying to explain to Adam some things the nurse had been telling me, and I couldn't form the right sentences. So I just mumbled "Oh forget it" and rolled over.

15 minutes later the doctor came to check on me. My arm hadn't changed at all. So she ordered a new kind of antibiotic to be given to me through my IV. They wanted to observe me for 8 hours once the medicine was administered, so I was given a bed to stay in for the night.

Once I was set up in this new area of the ER, the new nurse tried to give me the antibiotics but my IV was halfway out of my small vein. So he started a new one in my hand. He flushed out my veins and finally got the medicine into me at about 2:30am. I convince Adam to go home so both of us could try to sleep.

I had just started to doze off when a new nurse came in and announces my bloodwork showed low potassium again. Ugh. My advice to anyone out there is to eat lots of bananas before getting bloodwork done. Ha! Thankfully she brought me liquid potassium to drink instead of the giant choking pills. But oh my goodness, that stuff tasted like pure poison. But then I fell fast asleep and slept soundly from 3:30 to 5:30.

I was woken up at 5:30 for my vitals to be taken. My mouth still tasted like poison. My blood pressure was checked many times in the ER and at one point I asked them if it was too low. (It was 98/59). The nurse said it was actually perfect because they like to see 100/60. Who knew?  So I dozed for a little while before a doctor came in to assess my arm. They decided it looked a tiny bit less inflamed. And it definitely wasn't worse.  So Adam came back to bring me home with my new antibiotic Saturday morning.

Once home from the ER I could tell I was feeling better. Still feeling weak and fatigued, but my pain level was really coming down. Everything was great until later in the afternoon I noticed the redness on my arm expanding once again. I did NOT want to go back to the doctor! We watched it for a little while but it continued to grow, so I put in a call to an advice nurse. She scheduled a phone appointment for me to speak with a doctor that evening. I did some housework and made dinner and made tentative plans for the kids to be watched by grandparents if we had to go back to the ER. (Thank you SO much to Grandma Jan, Grandma Linda, and Grandpa John for helping with the kids during this week! And to Adam, for taking time off of work to pretty much take over my Mommy role.)

I also want to share what the two oldest boys made for me with Grandma Jan while I was sick.

 Ryan made the vase himself!

And look at the beautiful picture Lucas colored for me.

So sweet, right?

Ok so I talked to the doctor around 8pm Saturday and she recommended that we continue to just watch my arm. She said that unless I developed a fever, it was safe to monitor it at home. By that point my arm was really hurting again and feeling quite warm. So I iced it and by Sunday morning it had only grown a tiny bit.

Sunday I felt great! I got so much done around the house and my arm continued to stay the same size. And Monday was more of the same.

I am still experiencing headaches that come and go depending on how much pain reliever I have in my system. I'm not sure if it's still the virus running its course, a side effect of the antibiotics, or just my typical headaches. I am also having terrible pain in my back that gets worse throughout the day, as well as soreness in my lungs when I breathe in deeply. I'm wondering if these two symptoms are just lingering from being immobile for so long.

One of the saddest things that happened this week was when the pharmacist told me I cannot nurse Andrew while on this new antibiotic. I know many of you may be thinking "Crazy lady get over it....he's 18 months! Just wean him already". But I wasn't ready to wean. And I still don't want to. I'm trying to keep up my milk supply. Hopefully I can go back to nursing him once the course of antibiotics is done. But in the meantime he isn't happy about it. Neither am I. The first two nights were pretty terrible, with a crying confused baby. I've been rocking him and singing to him at bedtime, and that seems to be okay, but once he wakes up in the middle of the night that no longer works.And then last night he slept all night in his crib! (2nd time since he was born!!)

Based on some research I've done, I'm still not convinced my arm is infected. I think it may be a systemic inflammatory reaction to the pneumonia vaccine that will just require time, rather than antibiotics, to completely go away.

When I was in the ER I was thinking a lot about how I take my health for granted. It truly is a blessing to wake up most days feeling healthy and full of energy for the day. When feeling good is the norm and then you get so sick so quickly, it's kind of a shock! I want to wake up every day thanking God for my life and my health and all the assumed or expected blessings that I take for granted.