Math...ugh

The class I despised the most going through school was math. I disliked it from the get go. For some reason, numbers just don't mesh well in my head. And word problems, oh my lord, I think I would rather get shot in the foot then to try and figure out a word problem. To this day, I still count with my fingers and need a calculator to do long division. Not a math person.

Lauren, I'm afraid, as developed my dislike for math as well. The past two afternoons she has come home with addition and subtraction facts and it is like pulling eye teeth to get this child to finish. Yesterday, there was nothing but tears and drama which ended up with her not being able to watch tv and going to bed early. Today, it was again, tears and drama, with her mouth being washed out with soap for being sassy and smart-mouthed (sorry for those who don't believe in that kind of punishment, I DO NOT TOLERATE sassiness at all!!!!) I am beginning to dread homework and I know its only going to get worse!!

I feel like I need to go back to elementary school just so I can learn math all over again and have more patience with her. Lauren is so tenderhearted and takes everything to heart. She just gets overwhelmed and feels like she can't do it and that is exactly how I was. I try so hard to not get frustrated with her but the constant whining and crying and DRAMA is hard to look past. (I know, its only going to get worse and I have 3 daughters!!)

Doing this little bit of math with her reaffirms my dislike for the subject, almost a hatred for it and I just wish that I could let someone else do that homework with her but since the hubs doesn't always get home at a timely manner, it falls on my shoulders. Today needs to be the last day I let my frustrations come out and I lose my patience. I need to be more compassionate with my girl and try to teach her.

I can't wait until we get into multiplication fact and fractions......;)

I've been itching to tell.....

In my last post, I eluded to some things that were going on here at the Magic McCain's and that I would post about it later, so here it is.

Back in the beginning of October one morning I was getting ready to fix Lauren's hair for school. I looked down at her scalp and saw two tiny bugs. I had to do a double take and then immediately my heart dropped. One of my worst fears had come true. We had been invaded by the LICE!!!!! I immediately stopped, told Mark, called the school and called my mom. Needless to say I panicked, starting checking Claire's hair, drilling Lauren if her head had been itching, had anyone in her class had it, etc. I sent Mark to the wally world and he dropped about $50 in lice treatment and we started our decontamination journey. We all were treated except for Brooke and I spent the whole day picking nits. I felt like a monkey picking out bugs like you see on the National Geographic Channel:).

Later that night, I called my best friend to get Lauren's hair cut. We had put so much treatment on her hair that I couldn't comb through her ends. Lauren's hair was almost to her waist. (Now, can you understand my nightmare? Claire's hair was about the same length.) We had about 4 inches cut and while we were cutting, dog if we didn't find another live one. So I immediately got on the phone with our pediatrician's office because obviously the other stuff wasn't working and they suggested using mayonnaise, olive oil and cetaphil as treatment. So that night, Lauren went to bed with a head full of mayo. That is the best treatment by the way.

While all this was going on, I sprayed her bed, washed all of her sheets, vacuumed the carpets, etc. The only thing I didn't do was bag up her toys because she didn't really play with them.

I felt like we had done everything we could to get rid of the nasty buggers. So the days went by, we checked her head and kept an eye on things. About two weeks later, I was doing a periodic check and noticed she had more nits then she should. I told her we would be treating her hair that night. We had a very busy day that day, so by the time we got home it was about 11pm. We decided to wait to treat her hair. We got them ready for bed and I had gone to the bathroom to get myself ready and was just checking out my hair. Now, let me say, I have dandruff and itchy scalp so I see little white flakes in my hair all the time. I looked and saw something that wasn't normal and tried to pull it off my hair and it didn't come off. I HAD THE LICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got so mad!!! I rushed and got the leftover hair treatment and put it in my hair, woke Claire up and checked her head and sure enough, there were live ones on her head. So that night, they went to bed with mayo in their hair and I stayed up until 5 the next morning washing and drying all the bed linens.

This time we took no chances. We bagged everything, and I mean everything in their rooms and Mark brought home the work trailer and we put everything in there. We deep cleaned both of their rooms, bought new area rugs for their rooms, bought new pillows, deep cleaned our bedroom, you get the drift. My house got a full cleaning it hasn't seen since before I was pregnant with Brooke last year!!

This was a perfect opportunity, as well, to put Brooke in her crib and to move Claire into Lauren's room on the top bunk.

I will have to say I hate the fact that we had the lice again and this time all 3 of us girls got it but I now know you have to stay diligent with that stuff and not be lazy at all. I can safely say that at this moment we are now lice free and I can tell you I am an expert at lice decontamination!!!! We have tried so many remedies and I know what works and what doesn't.

What I hated the most about this experience was how it made me feel. I had lice in middle school and felt so ashamed and dirty. Those feelings came right back. I tried not to let that happen to my girls but I will say during this time of cleaning, I almost lost it. Between constantly cleaning, treating, de-nitting, pumping, feeding a baby, driving back and forth to numerous places, pumping, blowdrying, washing clothes, hormone shifts, pumping, I felt like I was about to lose it. I didn't though, thank the Lord. It was during this time that I realized that I don't need to worry about these things, they happen all the time and that I'm not a bad parent or a dirty parent. I can only do so much and that's all I can do.

I'm praying, PRAYING, that we don't get this again, however, being a mom of three girls who I know will have long hair for years to come, its inevitable. At least now, I'll be ready to kill the nasty things!!!!!

Whew....that time flew by fast....

Where in the world did October go? I think that was the fastest month ever!! We were a little busy around here at the Magic McCain's. We went to watch some NC State football, rode some rides at the State Fair, visited the local pumpkin patch, celebrated my birthday, and then went trick or treating for Halloween. Busy!! We had some other stuff going on to but I will save that for another post. I've enjoyed seeing the leaves change colors and the beautiful fall sky. Now we are settling in for what seems to be a fast November....so with that said, here are some pictures of our October:).

P.S. There are no pics of my birthday even though it was mentioned. Didn't really do anything spectacular except spend time with my family....that was enough:)!

Something unexpected....

I had to go to the doctor this morning. I had to have a breast exam. For those that don't know and those that do, just ignore, I exclusively pump to feed Brooke. I pump 4x a day and feel just like a dairy cow. This past Thursday night, I was doing my last pumping and I looked down and saw nothing but pure blood coming into the bottle on my right side. This side has given me issues from day one! I freaked out just a tiny bit. I have had this happen before but never to this extent. It was gross! However, my right breast had been hurting all day on Thursday and when I pumped that last time, it felt so much better and then I look down and see RED.....ugh!

Well, all day Friday and all day Saturday no blood in the milk when I pumped. I had to work this past weekend and I was pumping Saturday night and saw more blood. Pumped again a few hours later and saw more. Not cool... I went and talked with the ER doc and she recommended I go see my doctor, so that is what I did.

He did a breast exam and couldn't find anything. He called the breast center and spoke with a radiologist and they seemed to think everything was fine but I could have an ultrasound if it would give me peace of mind. I didn't schedule one.

My doctor seems to think that I may have a benign papilloma inside a milk duct that is causing the bleeding. He told me to keep a watch on it and if it should continuously happen to give him a call back and they would schedule me an ultrasound.

To be honest, I was a little scared because I know that if you have blood coming out that can be a sign of cancer. My doctor wanted to rule that out and he did!! I'm just going to keep an eye on things. If Brooke was nursing, I wouldn't have even known I was bleeding unless she spit it up. I haven't had anymore bleeding from that breast since 1am Sunday morning but I'm sure that it will happen again. At least now, I have an idea of what is causing it!

Thankful for Nieces and Nephews....

My niece, Cambridge, was a year old when Mark and I started dating. She was like my baby sister. She stayed at our neighbors while my sister worked and when I got home from school, I would go and get her and she would stay with us until my sis could get her. I loved it!! She was my little sidekick. Mark and I used to babysit her all the time. When my nephew, Austin, came along we did the exact same thing. After we got married and moved into our house, we immediately baby proofed because of Austin. And now, almost 10 years later the same babyproofing is still up;).

Because Mark and I were so involved with them, I think it helped us with parenting our own children. I don't feel like we were "typical" first time parents because we already had enough practice with our nieces and nephews. We were pretty laid back about many things. And I'm so thankful for that. I'm so thankful that my sisters trusted me enough to let me watch their kids because by them doing that, I was a better mommy to my own children. I don't get too worked up over stuff and we just have a very laid back parenting style. Now, we make our kids mind and we do have some what a schedule but we for the most part just go with the flow and you know, I'm okay with that.

So thank you to my sister's for letting me have your kids. And for all those aunts and uncles that don't have your own kids yet, get your nieces and nephews. Take care of them for a while because in the end, that practice is going to help you with your own children. Plus, with nieces and nephews, you can give them back to their parents:)!!!!!

The Last First Day...

Tuesday, Claire had her last first day of preschool. That just doesn't seem possible. I remember taking her the very first day of preschool and remember telling her teachers that we were working on potty training and now she's gearing up for kindergarten!! She was so excited to finally be going to school like Lauren. She was up early and picked out one of her most favorite outfits to wear!! She walked right in to school and just waved good-bye. I was okay this time. I know next year when I walk her on that first day, I will be a big ole fat mess of tears!! Gotta enjoy this last year!!

Lauren is still doing great in school. We normally have a few problems the first couple of weeks getting adjusted to the routine of going back but this year, we haven't had any problems whatsoever!!! I'm ecstatic!! She has had great behavior and really seems to be enjoying her class. Right now, her class is learning all about embryos, incubation and humidity, they have baby chicks growing!! She is also going to sign up for the art club and hopefully will make it in. The art teacher gets to choose the students so we are keeping our fingers crossed. I asked Lauren why did she want to be in the art club and her reply was, "Because I'm good at art." Gotta love the confidence!!

Brooke is still good, growing like a weed. She did a real laugh for the first time on Wednesday night. I loved it!! She is getting such a personality and becoming more social. In a couple of weeks we get to start rice cereal. That should be fun!!

The big girls are having a sleepover with their Mawmaw tonight. They are both so excited. They haven't done that in a while. Mark and I are going to have a date night with Brooke. Should be fun for all!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

ps..I'll have pics of Claire on her first day soon!

Preschool and poop....

My most favorite time of year is right around the corner and I am most excited!!! I LOVE FALL!! I can tell the seasons are getting ready to change. The sky to me seems more blue and you can just feel it in the air! I love fall!! Plus, my birthday is in October so that is another reason;).

Today we went to meet with Claire's preschool teachers. This is her last year of preschool. Wow, that doesn't seem real. Anyways, I think she is going to have a great year. Two of her best friends will be back and she has another good buddy that is joining the crowd this year!! I think I'm more excited about that than Claire! Brooke just sat in her daddy's lap, taking it all in. In a couple of years, Brooke will be heading off to preschool....I'm not even going to go there.

Speaking of Brooke, let me just tell you about this baby. She is doing great, sleeping completely through the night, starting to get into a routine. But, she doesn't poop. Hardly ever. This past time she went 10 days without pooping. I have talked with our pediatrician about this and he doesn't seem too concerned. She is solely a breast milk baby so I know that she is completely digests all of that. She had been going once a week on Saturdays, and then it moved to Tuesdays and now who knows. I finally called the nurse and she gave us some pointers to try,which included giving diluted apple juice, to try and get things moving. Brooke didn't seem to care for that too much but it did the trick;). But you know, to not have pooped for 10 days, she has been the most content and happy baby ever!! I love her, stopped up and all!!!