July Primary

July is going to be a crazy month, I'm going to be gone for two Sundays, all the children that will be out of town, the holiday, all the teachers that will be gone too, and how hot its going to be each Sunday in our Arizona church house that has no air circulation in the primary room.

For Subs: I came up with the idea of having a Primary class to Singing Time.

1. Before hand arrange with a teacher to lead Singing Time. Durring their class time they will prepare by each child filling out the following paper, it says "My Favorite Primary Song Is______." They can use the extra space to draw a picture of the song or that explains why its their favorite.


2. During Singing Time: the teacher leads singing time.


3. Each child stands up, shows their filled out paper, says what their favorite song is and if they want to explains why.


4. Then the whole primary sings the 'favorite' song. Either the teacher conducts the song or the child can.


5. Each child in the class gets to share their song and have it sung.

For classes whose teacher are not always there I will do this with their class on a Sunday when I am there. My goal is to have every class done by the end of the year.

July's song: As I posted previously I am planning on doing 'Jesus Said Love Everyone' and doing the sign language too. Its going to be really easy to teach and the children really like doing sign language to the songs.

My Hives (Postpartum Hives)

PLEASE VISIT MY OTHER BLOG: postpartumhives.blogspot.com

Since May 17, a little over two weeks since my adorable baby boy was born, I've been suffering (and I mean really suffering) from hives. They are full body break outs. I hate them. They are painful, itchy, and everywhere. I've been taking 24 hour Clariton and Benadryl (not at the same time) but neither are completely effective, but while taking them they are at least some what livable with.

Last week we arranged for me to go see an Allergist. I've already seen our local doctor twice on the matter and he can do anything for me, he suggested I go see an Allergist. Hard part is there are no Allergy Doctors in Sierra Vista and I had to make a trip to Tucson to see the doctor. Also I had to go off the Clariton in order to be tested, and off the Benadryl for the last 24 hours before seeing the doctor. With nothing in my system there is nothing to control my hives and I was having full body break outs. The pictures attached to this blog were taken the morning of the appointment with the Allergist, and this isn't even my worst break out. The worst part of the whole experience is the Allergist didn't do testing because I had some hives at that time (eventhough none were on my back where they were going to do the testing). I understand why he didn't test me, if I am so sensitive there's a chance of a lot of false positives. He didn't want to do a blood allergy test (he just doesn't do them). He doesn't know what is wrong with me. He seemed sceptical that it might have something to do with me having a baby recently. Now I feel I must take a moment to explain my background. My BS is in Molecular Biology, my emphasis would be in immunology. After graduating college I worked in a blood allergy lab in Tempe. We determined what people (mostly dogs, cats, and horses) are allergic to by testing to see what they have antibodies to. I did that for 2 years. Immunolgy is a BIG part of my education and my education has taught me that there is something going on in my immune system and it is highly likely to have something to do with the fact that I had a tramatic body experience ie having a baby- I know doctors have a lot of educations but they don't know and remember everything. The Allergist also wanted to put me on a bunch of medications that would cause me to have to stop nursing my baby. I tried to make it clear to my doctor that stopping nursing was not what I wanted to do and it really upset me because his response summed up said that nursing was a luxary. I do NOT beleive that nursing is a luxary but a prioity, and I didn't like that he dismissed my theory on my hives. I had a friend in Florida (from where I served my mission) tell me she had the same experierence after each of her children, hives and the doctors couldn't tell her why. They did all sorts of tests and after the last child finally decided that she is allergic to herself and the condition is flaired up by having a baby. They would try to control it with medication and eventually the hives would go away on their own about 6 months after they started. It got me thinking, I did some internet searches on 'postpartum hives'. I found story after story of woment who are have been or are in the same situation my friend and I are- hives started after giving birth and the doctors have no idea why. Now we have to decide what we are going to do. Are we going to stop nursing and try the meds or not do the meds and live with the hives. Its a tough choice. But one thing I do know, that when I go back to school to receive my Masters I want to do reseach on what in our immune systems caused postpartum hives.

UPDATE ****25October2009******

Baby Al is now 6 months old. My hives haven't gone away yet. I am still living with them. The difference is we have found medications that work for me. Benadryl and Clariton gave me some relief but it didn't last. The doctor prescribed Zyrtec for me and I was upset because the box says 'do not take if breastfeeding'. The allergist said that it isn't any worse as a chemical compound than Benadryl would be, it just isn't as tested because its newer. I brought up the concern with my family doctor, and our Pediatrician- all three gave me the same answer (my OB would not participate in a discussion because I was no longer pregnant and referred me back to my family doctor). The allergist also prescribed a heavy allergy med called Hydroxyzine HCL to take at night on days when it has been really bad. This too I was told was no worse than Benadryl, just might make him sleepier as it makes me sleepier. These by themselves have not been enough. In addition I also have a nasal spray. Allergy testing showed that I have allergic to a lot of environmental things. Even if my hives are been caused my hormonal changes, they can be worsened by environmental factors or food allergens. We have used this information to try to limit the effects of my environment. I am now at a point where I can live with my hives. I am miserable if I forget to take my meds for even one day, but at least I can function now. I still hope to feel "normal" one day and be off of my meds, but "normal" changes after having a baby. For all of you out there that are suffering from postpartum hives, I feel your pain. Talk to your doctors. Don't give up until you find something that works for you. I spoke with one lady that was convinced it was the breast milk hormone. She then proceeded to pump constantly until she had a stash of a year supply of breast milk for her baby, then stopped nursing, and her hives went away. Maybe someday we'll learn what is the real culprit here. Maybe when I go back to school for my Masters and Doctorate I will do my thesis research in postpartum hives, but until then don't give up, there are things out there that can help. Good luck and God bless.

****update 10Jan2010*******

I have started a blog to create a place where all of us suffering from this problem can share our experiences. Please check it out. I will be updating on my status there from now on. postpartumhives.blogspot.com

please let any of your friends and family who have suffered from postpartum hives know about this blog. And please share with me your experiences and stories.

We Start our Children Young or "Daddy & Me"

My husband loves to play WOW (World of Warcraft). I enjoy watching movies or television. TV really isn't my husband's thing, and compeditive video games aren't my thing either. I use TV to relax and my husband uses video games. I have come to the realization that my husband is a happier person (less stressed) when he is playing games rather than when he isn't, but the problem with it was we weren't spending any time together if he was playing games in the 'Geek Room' and I was in our 'Family Room' watching TV. So a few months after our marriage we found a solution. Cory uses the laptop to play while sitting on the couch next to me. I know that for many couples this isn't a solution because the husband still ignors their wife eventhough they would be sitting right next to each other, but for us it works because Cory is good at mulitasking. While he is playing we hold conversations throughout, we are half snuggling while he's playing, and he occationally watchs the TV with me.

Now that we have Al, we've been sitting him on Cory while he is playing. Al will sit for a while and almost seem like he is watching the video game. But most of the time Al just falls asleep in the comfort of his father's arms. Still we are always joking that we are training him to love video games. Not that we will have to train our little boy to love video games because I get the impression that will happen on its own no matter what we do.

A Day in Tucson

I had some things I needed to do in Tucson. One of which was going to Costco. We try to go get the things at Costco that we need on the way to or from Phoenix, but it had bee a long time since making that trip and even longer since we'd had the time to stop at Costco. So on Tues the 16th, Al and I went up to Tucson for a day trip. The highlight of the day was meeting up with my Aunt Renee for lunch. We went to a restaurant called Sauce. It was very good.

We got most of our 'to do' list done. I had wanted to go to Joann Fabric and Crafts, but ran out of time. But I did make it to Costco and got everything I needed there.

Sing the Song Backwards

We did this on Sunday as our activity to practice "Seek the Lord Early"
JR- did it but I don't think they understood the concept
SR-whined a bit when I told them what we were doing but by the end they had really got into the activity

Sing the Song Backwards- not literally, here is how you do it. It can be done with any song but I am going to use "Seek the Lord Early" as my example.

1. Sing 1st the last phrase of the song-- "I will seek the Lord early, and He will be found."
2. Sing the 2nd to last phrase--"I'll keep His commandments; His love will abound." and then continue on to re-sing the last line again "I will seek the Lord early, and He will be found."
3. Then start with the 3rd to last line and finish the song from there "His living prophets in all they say. I'll keep His commandments; His love will abound. I will seek the Lord early and He will be found."
4. As you can see the idea is to re-sing the song starting from the last line of the song and each time you re-sing it at another line. Have the children tell you what the 'line before' should be. Continuing until the whole song has been sung.

Its an easy activity to do. You can do it once or multiple times each time trying to do the whole song faster than the last (faster as in less breaks between starting over). On Sunday we only did it once through, we didn't have enough time to continue with the activity. Again SR really got into it, and JR had a hard time with the concept-although they did sing whatever I told them to.

Disneyland And Pin Trading

We took little Al on his first trip to Disneyland. Not that he is going to remember any of it or even enjoyed any of it. He slept through almost all of it. But we weren't going because he had never been, we were going as a family and he was lucky enough to be born by then and come along.

So at Disneyland and in California Adventures (I'm assuming there is something simular at DisneyWorld), there are these baby care centers. They were so nice to use. They had a nursing area for nursing mothers and their babies. We used this a few times a day. There are also high chairs for feeding and diaper changing stations (which we used regularly too, they were much nicer than the restrooms changing tables. I only have one wish, that there were more stations around the park. Everytime it was time to feed Al I had to go back to Main Street (in Disneyland) next door to the Photo shop, or back to the Fisherman's warf area (in Cal Adv). If you know where the first aid is, its right next door in both parks. I am so grateful they had these areas, it just took so much time to walk across the park each time.

Pin Collecting:

I started collecting pins back in 2002. I would purchase pins of my favoriate character. Each trip to Disneyland I would purchase one or two new pins. The concept of trading I couldn't understand- why would I want to trade my precious pin. But the two trips prior to this one I learned that by buying a pin I don't really care about, I can trade it with a cast member to get one I really want or one that I could never buy because they aren't in the stores. This has become needed as I have wanted pins that were already out of circulation before I went. Such as an 'Incredibles' pin and a 'Meet the Robinsons Pin'. Those where of particular priority to me and there are other characters I'd love to find, but never seen. The last trip I took (right before we were married) I traded a pin for the Mr. Incredible pin I have. This trip every new pin I got I traded for it. I traded for some really special pins. My Mother-in-law found me a 'Meet the Robinsons' pin and traded the cast member for it for me. She is awesome. I had been stopping every cast member in site that had pins to trade and nothing. Sure I found other cool pins, but no 'Meet the Robinsons'. I did find a Shere Khan pin, and an Yezma pin (from 'Emperor's New Groove'). Which was really cool because I've never seen an 'Emperor's New Groove character on a pin. So needless to say when my Mother-in-law found the 'Meet the Robinsons' pin I was super happy.

It was a great trip. Sure we took everything at a much slower pace than I have in the past (and if you have every taken a trip to Disneyland with me and Ted you know they crazy fast pace and planing we take that park at). But it was nice to take it easy and just enjoy being there.

July Song: Jesus Said Love Everyone

June's song is "Seek the Lord Early". Since being out of town, Mother's day, Father's day, having a baby, Stake Confrence... I haven't had any ideas on teaching this song. I found a flip chart on another blog (I don't have the link anymore so I don't know which site it was). I am planning to use a mishmatch of other sites' ideas on how to teach it. I'm sorry I don't have any ideas to help right now.

July: Jesus Said Love Everyone
This song is so simple, but hardly any of the children know it.
Here are the words:

Jesus said love everyone, treat them kindly too,

when your heart is filled of love, others will love you.

The plan is to sing it once through, and then sing it again having the children do sign language to the song.
Here is the sign language for anyone who would like to do it with their children. It is really easy.