God Answers Prayers

On Friday, while I was over 2,000 miles away for Blissdom*, I received a call that would make any mom that far away from her babies wish she wasn’t – Ray was at Urgent Care with Noah.

My parents had called Ray to tell him that Noah was possibly having an allergic reaction – he had a rash and his hands and feet were swelling. I knew it had to be serious for my Dad to have called Ray away from work in the middle of the afternoon. He wouldn’t have been alarmed by just a little rash.

There was, in fact, a patchy red rash all over Noah’s body, but his hands and feet were swollen and appeared bruised. Definite cause for concern. Of course Ray thought it wise to take Noah in, but they were sent home, after seeing the doctor, with instructions for Noah to be given Benadryl every few hours, and the promise that the spots would clear up in a couple of days.

They didn’t.

I returned home late yesterday afternoon to hugs and squeals of joy. From everyone except Noah. Noah’s cheeks were swollen, the red spots had become larger patches and now covered his whole face and his legs, and were spreading to his back and neck. His ankles, feet, legs and hands were turning a smooth shade of purple. He was miserable and cried when I touched him.

I just had to take him back to Urgent Care.

taken last night at Urgent Care (on my iPhone)

We left the emergency office in less than an hour. I was told what to watch for to indicate an immediate need for a trip to the ER, and the order to take Noah to see his pediatrician early this morning and insist on blood tests.

Blood tests?

Noah fell asleep on the way home and Ray put him straight to bed. I started Googling, but stopped when my fears got the best of me.

I tried to eat, but felt sick.

I tried to sleep, but couldn’t.

I sat and prayed over my sleeping baby.

YOU prayed for Noah and you prayed for me. I felt peace.

This morning Noah woke up a bear. He was definitely not himself, but just wanted me to hold and snuggle him. A good sign! In fact, his face was no longer swollen and even his feet and ankles were beginning to look more normal.

Off we went to the pediatrician’s office. Noah was semi-cooperative with Dr. Skiles, but did amazingly well as his blood was drawn for the CBC and ANA… not one peep from him!

As this afternoon passed us by, and we waited for the test results, Noah’s red and purple skin began to turn back to a healthy pink, he became less sensitive to the touch, and even stopped pulling and scratching at his inflamed skin. In fact, even his ‘tude came back!

taken just after he found his 'tude

Noah was already better.

Just a bit ago, I received a very welcome phone call – Noah’s CBC came back completely normal. Noah does have Urticaria Multiforme (a sort of extreme hives, most likely caused by a virus) and we now wait for the ANA results, but with much more hope. God is gracious and my baby is better! Praise God for answered prayers!

Thank you for your prayers!

*More on Blissdom later!

The Five Languages of Love

When Ray and I were newlyweds, we studied a book called The Five Love Languages. In this book, Gary Chapman explains the different ways in which people react to others, based on actions and words, thus resulting in changes in our “love tanks.”

Chapman spent an entire chapter in his book explaining how the love languages can be applied to children. He also wrote a book called The Five Love Languages of Children. Now, I haven’t read his book geared towards children, and we didn’t have children when we went through the first one, but the same lessons Ray and I learned so long ago can be applied to our children, as well. Our children need to have love tanks that are full, as well.

According to Chapman, there are five ways in which each of us express and receive love:

1. Quality Time
2. Words of Affirmation
3. Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch

Each are pretty self-explanatory and I’m sure you could recognize which most speaks to you or your spouse just by glancing at the list, but what about your children? Which one would best describe each of their love languages?

Knowing how to identify each of the languages of love in Ray has helped me grasp how to identify them in my children. Ethan and Josh both begin to glow when Dad or I spend quality time with either of them. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time, but even just a quick conversation or little bit of undivided attention goes a long way in filling their love tanks. Zach, on the other hand, thrives on words of affirmation and encouragement. Gifts is my love language, so it’s easily recognizable in Julia as she is always making and giving gifts. And, physical touch is big for both my Ben and Noah – Both are generally always in need of a hug and Noah falls asleep with one hand on my face!

We naturally pour on all five languages when our children are young. We must spend time with them, serve them, and hug and cuddle, so as to sustain their life. We shower them with praises as they smile for the first time, burp after a feeding, and later as they begin to crawl and then walk.

As our children mature and develop personalities, however, their language of love can be a bit harder to identify. Here are a few ways to best determine which one each of our children most appreciates:

• Observe their reaction to the different ways in which you express your love for them
• Observe how they show their love to others
• Listen to their requests
• Give them options

I would love to hear which language you speak. What about your spouse and children?

It’s important to remember that if you express love in a way that is not understood, your child or spouse may not realize you’ve expressed your love at all. Chapman stresses the importance of understanding your loved ones’ language in order to keep their love tanks full.

Is your love tank full?

He-just-can’t-keep-his-eyes-open!

Indoor Fun

So, how did you do this last week? Were you able to be more intentional about fitting in a fun activity or creating a new craft with your kiddos each day?

This week we discovered some new games – Zingo and Super WHY! ABC Letter Game – and we played some of our old favorites, as well – Uno and Connect 4. We even made some sweet treats; the most favorite of which is the yummy and delicious Muddy Buddies. Josh also spent some time with Daddy digging up his dinosaur bones and piecing together a T-Rex!

I didn’t quite get in the special time with each of my kiddos every day this last week, as I had hoped, but we did create some great memories indoors. All while the weather was not so pleasant outside.

As you have already seen of my fabulous guests this last week, I have some pretty crafty friends, but in my efforts to find fun, unique crafts and activities for us to try, I have discovered some new lovely and creative blogs. (Thanks for your recommendations, Mindy!)

I hope you’ll check ‘em out, too!

• The Crafty Crow is a craft collective, meaning that many great crafts are featured from around the blogosphere every day.

• P is for Preschool is written by the director of a real Kansas preschool. Its kinda fun, because all posts are correlated with letters of the alphabet!

• Little Food Junction is a delightful blog with terrific ideas to make food fun. I am loving the Valentine’s Day food art!

• Today is Fun is a site that features entertaining, affordable activities that are meant to foster kids’ innate creative impulses and encourage a love of life.

Where do you get your inspiration?
Please share… I still need all the help I can get!

This post is sponsored by Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup who wants you to know that 32 feet of fresh egg noodles go into every can. For lots of fresh ideas about how to keep your kids entertained and the chance to win $500, check out Wintery Weather Fun at DivineCaroline.

Happy 4th Birthday, Ben!

Many hugs and kisses for my sweet and thoughtful, spunky blondie on his birthday!

We love you, Ben!!

Check out Ben’s first two years and year three – My, how he’s grown!

Photo Gifts for Your Valentine

• Go, take a look at the Valentine’s Day gifts that Snapfish has to offer. Let me know, in the comments before February 3rd at 9pm (pst), what item you would choose from Snapfish for a special someone.

Want a few bonus entries? Leave me a separate comment for each of the following:

• Become a fan of From Dates to Diapers on Facebook.

• Subscribe to our RSS feed.

• Tweet about this giveaway, including a link to this giveaway and the hashtag #D2Dgvwy.

One winner will be selected at random, and will be emailed. Winner will then have 24 hours to respond before forfeiting their prize.

Ooh, and keep in mind that Snapfish is offering free shipping on all Valentine’s day gift orders over $20 when ordered by February 6th, so get your orders in soon!


Benefited giveaway


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