Living with Fibromyalgia...

Fibromyalgia is a "pain condition" or "nerve disorder" where you feel pain in certain areas all over your body. The pain will decrease and increase but it will not go away. Most of my flare ups come when it is going to rain or when I am stressed. Not so stressed today, so I bet that by tomorrow morning we will have ourselves a storm. Along with Fibromyalgia comes what we lovingly (yeah right) call Fibro Fog. It is like walking around in a daze all day with your mind all foggy and you won't remember mostly anything that you do unless you write it down... so if I repeat stuff in this blog please bare with me.

When I was first diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, it was a new condition that most doctors did not believe existed. If I went to the doctor he would tell me that it was all in my head and that there was no way he would give me any pain killers. Not once did I go into the doctor's office looking for meds... just alternate ways to make it so I could play with, bathe, and take care of my kids better. It broke my heart every time I was hurting too much to give Josh or Chloe a bath and to hear them laughing and playing in the water with Jared when it should have been with me. As I said before, flare-ups are especially horrible when it rains and because of that I can predict the weather pretty well now. Jared is amazed by it. When the weather channel predicts rain, Jared asks me if it is true. About 90% of the time I'm right!

Now there are so many people diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and so many resources that it is amazing. We sure have come a long way from when I first was told that I had it. There are actual FDA approved medications for Fibromyalgia now.

There is no set way on how to get Fibromyalgia or to really pin point where and when you came down with it. It doesn't ever go away either. It's just one of those things that you learn to live with and are grateful for the good days. I do have my theories on how I came to have Fibro though...

Actually, sometimes I think that God was looking down and saw that I was lacking in the sense of humor department. To force me to fix this, he sent me my son and Fibromyalgia on the same day. It worked. And that is one thing that I am actually glad about from the whole Fibro situation. If you can find a way to laugh about it, it becomes a lot more tolerable. For example: When my fingers and hands finally do get stuck in weird positions we all take turns guessing what they look like... or we turn off the lights, get out the flashlights and everyone makes weird shapes with their hands to see how the shadows turn out so funny. It is a family event - we pop popcorn and everything! It is my coping mechanism... and it works.

My saving grace is that Jared can make me laugh about it. No matter how bad things get with the Fibro and how upset I get that I can't play with the kids the way I want to, he can always make me see it in a funny way and giggle sometimes too. He is my support system, my shoulder to cry on, and my best friend all in one. And he is pretty darn funny too.

If you have Fibromyalgia or know someone who does, find ways to make jokes about it or to use the Fibro to find other ways of doing normal things. It is amazing how it will make you think out of the box. If you want to do something badly enough, the Fibromyalgia won't stop you from doing it. Just find another way of getting it done.

If you would like to learn more of the facts and find some support networks, here is the link to start with: http://www.fmaware.org/site/PageServer?pagename=fibromyalgia.

Also, since there are so many other places to look for information, I will share with you the holy grail of all Fibromyalgia books. It's called Fibromyalgia for Dummies. Sounds silly but I promise, it is the book I brought with me to all my doctor appointments to educate the doctors.

Good luck and feel well!

The Wife That Cried Crib...

Another golden oldie.. from 2006 this time. But, none the less, one of my favorites.

It was around 2pm central standard time when I heard it. I was in my livingroom, minding my own business while watching General Hospital (of course). All of a sudden, out of Chloe's room I hear a shrill scream and a tiny voice say "I'm stuck! Get Daddy!".

I ran into Chloe's room to find that her leg was stuck in the crib slats. Apparently it had been there a while because it was swollen and turning purple. I tried everything to push her leg back through, but it was too swollen and twisted. I found some veggetable oil and tried that. No such luck. I tried wiggling her leg down to the mattress to see if that side was wider so the leg would slip out. No such luck. So, naturally, I call for Jared.

I couldn't get hold of Jared so I called my Mom. She's all the way in NY, but I thought that maybe she could "talk me down". Mom suggested that I cut the bar with a saw, but I didn't have one. I got off the phone with my mom to call 911, but figured I would give Jared one more shot. Finally, Jared answered the phone and told me not to do anything and that he would be right there. I believe the reason he gave to come home was: "Chloe is stuck in the crib and Jenn's about to start busting the furniture apart to get her out. I don't think I'll be back today.".

To sum it up- All Jared had to do was lift her up and back. Her leg slid right out. I tried that already... and now I will no longer be the wife that cried 'popcorn cornels', but the wife that cried 'crib'.

My children should have come with warning labels...

I gave birth to both of my children normally. They both popped out in record time and right after I was able to take a shower and kick back in the hospital bed quite peacefully. When the nurse brought each child to my room for the first time we looked the baby over from head to toe. There were 5 fingers on each tiny hand and 5 toes on each adorable foot. They looked to be all intact- nothing missing. It is now that I have figured out what I should have really been looking for- a warning label.

The following warnings should have been on this very long label covering the baby's entire back (I will specify which child):

1) Warning: Child will roll over and crawl early and learn to use all electronics by the age of 9 months. (Josh)

2) Warning: When asked to do something, child will look at you as if you have lost your mind and do the opposite while giving you an overly aggravated and defiant look. This look will later become known as "the hairy eyeball". (Both- though Chloe has mastered the art of the hairy eyeball.)

3) Warning: Child may wear down your sanity until you are hanging on by a thread, hug you to make you feel relieved, and when you are finally relaxed... shove drumsticks up the dog's hind end. (Josh- though Chloe has tried)

4) Warning: Child will look sweet and innocent, but do not underestimate child at any time. Doing so could be disastrous! (Both)

5) Warning: Child will do everything they can to test your limits, make you go over the edge and diminish your sanity... but when all is said and done, you will look at your child sleeping in your arms and know these things: You love this child with all your heart, your child loves and depends on you with all their being, and that you would never ever want to spend a single day without being their parent ever again.

I love my kids with all my heart. Sometimes they make me laugh and other times I want to cry. However, no matter how many warnings belong printed on their backs to keep me sane I would never change them even a tiny bit!!!

Mommy loves you Chloe and Josh. You are and always will be my inspiration in life!

QUACK!!! Goes the Chloe...

There are times in our lives where everything seems to fall right into place and when everything runs smoothly. Those times are to be cherrished... because around here they are rare. Not that I'm complaining- I love our wacky routine with all the ups and downs and chaos and sanity diminishing moments. I wouldn't change any of it for anything. And if your life is too boring or put together- just let me know and I will lend you Chloe!

Now, I know that children can say and do the funniest and weirdest stuff... but I think my Chloe takes the cake. I know that most of you have heard me call my kids "weird", "nutsos", and many other things along those lines as terms of endearment. You should be cautioned, however, that no matter how endearing those terms are meant to be... they are 100% factual. For the purposes of this blog and to keep it shorter than a novel, I will only use Chloe as an example and leave many many many things out. Enjoy the lesson-

I guess it must have started when I was younger and decided to drive my parents so crazy that my dad decided to make his wish for me to have a daughter exactly like me. Well, God remembered his wish and decided to grant it- hence Chloe.

I believe that the first weird thing that she ever did was to decide that she loved to lick people- especially on their feet. For the longest time we had to watch where she was crawling and keep our feet up so we would not get licked. It made for an interesting ice breaker when we had company- that's for sure! Then she decided that she no longer wanted to wear clothes- which is normal for a little kid- but that she did want to put stickers in certain places. Needless to say we had to hide the stickers. The no clothes thing became more interesting when we went shopping, usually at Walmart (our home away from home as my mom likes to put it). Chloe would be sitting in the seat at the front of the cart with her legs in the holes while we shopped and if we took our eyes off of her, she would be completely naked and we would have to search the store for all her clothes. Unfortunately, when she got older she decided to tell anyone who would listen to her while we were shopping "my mommy beats me", which could have become a problem if people around here didn't know me so well.

Now, those are just some background stories.... here is the most recent.

My daughter moos and quacks. It started with the quacking at random times throughout the day. She would pretend she was a duck all the time and quack her answers. I thought it was really cute, but made her ask me in people's language (if I said english she would tell me that she was quacking in english). The quacking stopped for a week, and then the mooing began. So, now my daughter moos randomly at people and answers your questions mooing. However, if something scares her she will quack out of habbit as her first reaction.

The other night Jared and I made a deal that if he went to the gas station to get sodas and chapstick, I would iron his uniform. I got the ironing board out while Jared was putting on his shoes. By this time it was late at night and the kids had been in bed for quite a while. Jared and I were talking when I opened the ironing board up. The board made a horrible squealing creaking noise...and from Chloe's room came "QUACK!". We both laughed until it hurt to breathe.

So, there you have it. Part of my wacky, quacky world. It might not be as polished as some, but is suits us well. But if any of you tell me how bored you are while Jared is ever away- I'm sending Chloe to you. Fair warning!

Do you want to know why??

Here is a story from back in January, which I thought would describe why my page is called Little Bit of Crazy... There are so many little bits of crazy in our days that it just seemed logical. Here is one small example:

"Do you want to know why?"

That seems like such a normal question. Really, think about how many times you are asked that in a day or a week. We probably don't even realize how many times we actually ask that question. I counted how many times I say it in one day... 7. Mostly I am asking the kids if they want to know why they need to do what I tell them to, but still it is a common question. It is a common question that I will forever laugh at and really think about saying "yes" to for the rest of my life.... thanks to Josh.

It was a typical night of hanging out, watching movies, and then tucking the kids into bed. I'm trying to catch up on the show Smallville before the show starts again, so Jared and I agreed to wait until the kids fell asleep and then go downstairs to watch it in the office. Just as we are about to get up to go watch it, we see Josh at the top of the stairs looking freaked out. We could not have prepared for what happened next with any of the parenting books the world has to offer.

As usual we asked him why on Earth he was out of bed and he replied that he was scared and, as we could see, freaked out. We then told him, as per usual, that there was nothing wrong with him and to get his bottom back in bed. Then it happened- he asked, "Do you want to know why??"

Jared and I looked at each other and as we rolled our eyes we answered, "Yes." Josh then told us- with a straight and terrified face- that since his bottom was hurting he put a paper towel in his boxers to make it feel better..... and that now it was gone. At first my only response was to wonder what the heck had gotten into that boy's mind and to laugh really hard. When Jared talked to the boy we found out that Josh thought that the paper towel had been sucked-up by his butt. Oh the laughter!!! We were hysterical. I couldn't breathe and it hurt so bad to laugh anymore but we just couldn't stop. Of course, the paper towel had fallen out of his underwear and I was just a bit horrified that there was a butt-towel on his floor.

From now on I will be thinking very carefully when I tell my kids that I want to know why they are doing something. I may just tell them to knock it off- but then again maybe it is best to know.

And so it goes- the first story of the year. And this entertaining segment has been brought to you by Josh. Gosh I love that kid!!!