My story of healing

This is my story of how God healed me. If you are a believer, I hope you are encouraged and uplifted by it. If you are not a believer, then I hope it prompts you to find out more. God is real and he cares about us all.

A few weeks ago, we went to stay with Rob's dad in Whangarei. The first morning there, I woke up with a whole lot of what looked like mosquito bites on my leg. I had some behind my knee, and some on my lower leg. Over the next few days, I got more "bites" all over me. I had them on my arms, stomach, shoulders, legs, hands, feet. I remember a few of them appearing while I was waiting at A&E to get my foot stitched after the glass door incident. I also remember getting some while watching the rugby at a friend's house.
I knew they were not mosquito bites because it is winter and there are no mosquitos around. I also had no exposed skin since it was so cold! We wondered if there were fleas in the house, but we have no pets, hardly any carpet and nobody else in the family was getting bitten. Also, I had been getting the bites at all kinds of places, not just at home. I washed all my clothes and all the bedding. We cleaned the carpets and got a flea bomb. But I was convinced that it was something else.
I asked the doctor about hives, but she said they didn't look like hives. She prescribed an antihistamine for me anyway. It helped the bites to stop itching so much, but it didn't stop me from getting any more. Eventually I stopped the medication because it was giving me side effects. The bites continued and I was going a bit crazy trying to think of what could be causing them.
Then one night at the Alpha course, we looked at the topic of Healing. On the way home that night, I prayed for God to heal me. I was desperate and I wanted him to show me miraculously that he had taken my affliction away. The next morning, I expected to see all my spots completely gone. But they were still there. I was a little disappointed, but I know that God doesn't always choose to heal people and I accepted that.
But .... ever since the night I prayed for healing (which was over 2 weeks ago), I have not seen any new "bites". And this is after weeks of finding between 5-10 new ones each day. Now almost all the scars from the old bites have faded away.

God healed me. Although it wasn't the dramatic miracle that I asked for, it was a miracle all the same. The doctors had no idea what was wrong with me, I couldn't self-diagnose myself (and I'm usually very good at that, being a medical writer!) and the other measures we had taken around the house had not improved the situation. I needed a divine intervention, and God provided it. The affliction I had was not life-threatening or debilitating, but it bothered me constantly and it was making life pretty miserable. God knew that I was suffering, in my own way. He cared enough about me to answer my prayer. And he did it in such an obvious way that I would have NO DOUBT that it was him.

More on Time Out

I just had to post about this!
Time Out has been working brilliantly for Tyler since we started it last week. But after we'd used it a few times, he started saying "sorry" as soon as we put him in the corner. He would just stand there looking at us with big sad eyes, saying "sowee, sowee, sowee" over and over! It was pretty hard the first time he did it, but we had to persist with getting him to stay in the corner for 1 minute. He must have figured that after he says "sorry", he gets to leave the corner. So he says it right away, hoping to get a cuddle and permission to leave.

The kid is SO cute it's not funny.

Time for Time Out!

We’ve started using Time Out for Tyler. Well, my mum started using it with good results, so we decided to use it at home as well. His behaviour hasn’t been too bad, but there are moments where he is naughty and KNOWS he is being naughty, and the previous toddler techniques of redirection & distraction were no longer working. I wasn’t sure he was old enough for Time Out, and I didn’t know if he would understand the concept of it. But he sure does!

Mum decided to just use a corner of the room, so we’re doing the same thing. Ethan has Time Out in his bedroom, which is downstairs and close to the living room and playroom. But since Tyler’s room is upstairs, we needed a “safe” place downstairs for him. I wasn’t prepared to put him in the toilet or bathroom (I think he could actually do some damage in there) and the playroom is out of the question too, for obvious reasons! So the corner it is.
Yesterday mum put Tyler in Time Out because he was throwing toys, and he didn’t stop after a couple of warnings. So she followed the Super Nanny technique. Apparently she had to put him back in the corner about 8 times because he kept following her, but eventually he stayed there for a minute. He said “sorry” afterwards and gave her a cuddle. And he didn’t throw any more toys!
She told me about it when I rang her at lunch time, and I immediately decided that we would start using Time Out at home too. Well, we got the perfect opportunity after dinner. Tyler kept putting his feet up on the table, and Rob had told him to stop. So he went to the corner of the kitchen for 2 minutes and he was NOT happy! Not fair – he didn’t cry and protest when mum tried it! But he only had to be put back about 3 or 4 times, and once again he said sorry and gave Rob a cuddle.

I’m just glad he seems to understand how it all works. But I have the feeling he’ll be getting more Time Outs than his brother ever did. Tyler loves to push the boundaries and doesn’t particularly like to follow the rules. But I think this will help him learn, and it sure beats any other form of discipline we have tried over the years!

The boys

Time for an update on the boys.

Ethan
Lately he has been getting into games a lot more. He got Junkyard Jalopy for his birthday. It is like Operation, you have to take small pieces out of the car using tweezers and not touch the sides or the horn beeps. He’s getting really good at it. And he still loves playing Snap and Memory.
Last night I went out to the movies with Christi (thanks, it was fun!) and when I got home Rob told me that when he was putting Tyler to bed, he realised there were no socks left in his drawer so he asked Ethan to go downstairs and find 2 matching socks on the washing rack and bring them back upstairs. Apparently it took him a little while, but he did it! He must have been able to tell which socks were his and which were Tyler’s (even I have trouble with that sometimes, LOL) and then found two the same. And they weren’t in pairs to begin with.

Yesterday he didn’t cry when Rob dropped him off at Kindy. He was so proud when I picked him up, and the teacher had given him a stamp on his hand. On Friday, we’re going to a Movie Night at Kindy. They’re having a sausage sizzle and watching Ice Age 2. The notice said “bring your sleeping bags” and when we told Ethan, he looked very puzzled and said “why do we need our sleeping bags? Are we sleeping there?” … I guess he’s never watched a movie in his sleeping bag, so I can understand why he was confused!

We got his first Kindy photos on Monday – you know the ones in the pack that come with those ultra trendy cardboard frames! I can’t believe they still have them, they are just the same as the ones I had for my school photos about 20 years ago! The photo itself is not fantastic, but we decided to buy them anyway. I think we’ll buy the school photos every year, even if they are bad. It would be wrong not to have one for each school year. The class photo is quite good, so we’re also going to buy that. The timing was awesome, since they came to take the photos on Ethan’s first day of Kindy! I don’t know how many times a year they do it, but it is only once a year at school. So I’m happy that we got in when we did, just in case there aren’t any more photo days.

Tyler
He’s talking so much now! He has a few cute phrases that he loves to repeat. One of them is “I do it!” which he says when he wants to do something himself, or when he has just done it and is trying to say how proud he is of himself, LOL. If we ask him something and say “alright?” at the end, he will answer “okay”. And if we say “are you sure?” he will reply “sure”. SO cute!!
His bedroom is right next to ours, upstairs. Quite often we hear him talking to himself early in the morning (he often goes back to sleep again after a bit of a chat). Rob and I have both heard him say “Daddy door shut” if we make too much noise shutting our bedroom door! And we are pretty quiet up there since we know he is a light sleeper!

He’s still obsessed with shoes. But it is getting a bit much. He wants his shoes on from the minute he wakes up, and he refuses to take them off when we come home. We have a general rule of no shoes inside the house, but it has proven to be much easier to just let Tyler have his way. Otherwise we have to deal with the ugliest tantrums. I’m hoping that the shoe obsession will gradually fade!

They have changed the age group divisions at preschool (daycare) now. It used to be age 3 when the kids went to the “big kids” area, but now it is 2. So Tyler is doing quite a few visits to the downstairs classroom. He spends all day Thursday down there since there are no other little ones there that day. Melissa said he just loves being down there! He’ll be moving permanently in September. His friend Jake has just turned 2 and moved down, so I think he misses him a bit when he is still upstairs. But he does have a couple of little girlfriends who are his age, and he plays with them a lot. They read books to each other, apparently! Raquel (he calls her Kel), Isabelle (he calls her Belle) and Olivia (he can’t really say her name properly). I find it so interesting because when Ethan was Tyler’s age, his friends were all boys. And it has stayed that way, for the most part. I wonder if Tyler will be different?

I know that was a long update, but I had so many random things I wanted to write about. I know many of you are reading from afar and don’t get to see the boys every day, so this update is for you!

Kindy update

Ethan has been at Kindy for about 4 or 5 weeks now. For the first 2 or 3 weeks, he was fine. But then he started getting sad when Rob dropped him off, saying “I don’t want you to go, Daddy” and then saying he didn’t want to go to Kindy anymore. The first day it happened was a day that Devon happened to be sick, and Ethan was upset about Devon not being there. When I picked him up he told me that Devon wasn’t there and I asked him if he played with any of the other children. He said “no, I just lay on the bridge in the playground and cried because nobody was my friend.” Talk about heart-breaking!! I told him that he could make new friends by asking other children if he could play with them, but I know he hasn’t been doing that. He thinks he can only have one friend. At first I was really puzzled about that, because at preschool he is really popular and has lots of friends.
But then I started thinking about the differences between preschool and Kindy [he’s at preschool on Tues and Thurs mornings, and then he goes to Kindy on Mon, Tues & Thurs afternoons].

I think there are a few things that Ethan is finding difficult:
1. There are 45 kids at Kindy, all in one room. There are ~20 kids at preschool, separated into 2 buildings (under 3s and over 3’s).
2. The kids at Kindy are all 4. Kids at preschool range from 3 months to almost 5.
3. The lack of structure at Kindy. Preschool is much more structured and he knows the routine well.
4. The Kindy teachers are unfamiliar to Ethan. He has known his preschool teachers for much longer and has a close relationship with them.
5. Kindy is a new & different place. Preschool has been part of his life since he can remember, since he started there when he was 1.
6. Most of the children at Kindy are unfamiliar to Ethan. Almost all of his close preschool friends (about 6 of them) started at the same time as he did, in 2003. They have practically grown up together.

Having said that, he just loves the playground and all the toys and activities they have at Kindy. He is getting to know the teachers now, and feels more comfortable with them. Yesterday I had a big talk to one of the teachers (Lisa), and she said Ethan is doing really well. She said it is normal for most kids to take a few weeks/months to settle in … there is usually a “honeymoon period” where they are just so excited about coming, they don’t have time to get sad. But then the novelty of something new wears off, and they start to feel a bit overwhelmed. Lisa said she has been reading a book to Ethan or doing a puzzle with him when Rob drops him off, and he stops feeling sad after a couple of minutes. She has told him that he can always come and have a cuddle with her if he is feeling sad or lonely. I thought that was very sweet. She also talked about what a neat kid he is, and how he has a great sense of humour. I asked Lisa if Ethan plays with other kids when Devon is not there (which has been quite often, for various reasons) and she said he doesn’t yet, but she’s confident that he will start making new friends once he feels totally settled.

So I guess the main thing is that he is happy while he is there (after the first couple of minutes) and he is learning lots of things. I’m sure he’ll make more friends as time goes on, and in the meantime I am really grateful that he has a good friend like Devon.

This song makes me cry ...

I'm at work, listening to my iPod.
Mumsdollar, a Kiwi Christian punk band.
They're good!

But this song always makes me tear up ...

LET ME GO

In summer when sun shines you watched me as I play
In autumn when leaves fall I ran to you with joy
In winter when it's cold here you tucked me in at night
In springtime when flowers bloom you held my hand when I flew my kite

But it's time to let me go
I'm not your boy tonight
Forever grateful to this day
But now I'm my own shadow

In the old days, the good times
I knew you were invincible
As time flies, through divine eyes
You're a shade more vulnerable
Step aside now don't cry now
You know it's hard to say goodbye

But it's time to let me go
I'm not your boy tonight
Forever grateful to this day
But now I'm my own shadow

And as a lion cub grows and leaves mum
It's time to release me and let me move on
You know that tomorrow I'll still be your son
You know that I'll run home when things get rough

Let me go

I can't bear the thought of my own boys wanting me to let them go! I want them to always be my babies, to always say "you're the best mumma in the whole world" and to always want to give me cuddles and read books to them.
Why can't I just freeze time and enjoy them before they grow up and ask me to let them go?

I won a scrapbooking contest!

Well, I'm still a bit shocked, but had to share this news with you all.
Christi and I both belong to Scrapbook Essentials, a new online scrapbooking store with a gallery and forum. They have a monthly layout contest. Christi won the first month (March) and I just found out that my Gingerbread People layout is the winning layout for May!

Click here to see my layout and my name published - woohoo!!
http://www.scrapbookessentials.co.nz/layout_contest.html
My prize? A $20 voucher to spend in the store :-) Yay!

I'm so happy! This probably seems like no big deal, but for me it is huge. I never win things, and I've never had any of my layouts published (despite submitting on a regular basis). I know this is not the same as being published in a magazine, but for me it is the first step on my journey.

Foot Fiasco Part II

I think I may have to cut off my left foot.
You'll remember a couple of months ago I fell down the stairs while I was carrying Tyler and sprained my foot. Well, yesterday I put the same foot through one of the glass panes in our back door, and spent almost 2 hours at A&E getting 8 stitches put it.

I'd never had stitches before, and didn't know what it was going to feel like. Getting the local anaesthetic hurt like nothing else, and then I had to get a tetanus shot as well. They said I was "very lucky" not to have severed a tendon. I can see now how close it was to my Achille's but I didn't realise at the time how bad it was.

Last night it felt fine, the anaesthetic lasted for hours and I didn't feel any pain at all until 1am this morning. I took pain relief at 8am and now it feels pretty comfortable, but I'm supposed to keep it elevated and I didn't really do that last night (I still got dinner, tidied up around the house, put Ethan to bed and hung some washing on the drying rack). Today I'm home from work and I'm going back to the doctor in about an hour to get the dressing changed. Apparently I am supposed to keep off my foot "for at least a week" and I'm meant to have 5 days off work!!! Um, I don't think so! ... I'll probably be back at work tomorrow.

I'm going to Canada!

A couple of you already know this, but most of you don't.
I'm going to Toronto in August for a work conference. I'll be attending the International AIDS Conference from 13-18 August but first I am having a few days of annual leave and I'll be staying with Jenn! I'm starting to get excited now, since I'm actually booking flights and hotels, and organising things.

I'll be away for almost 2 weeks. And boy, is it going to be tough! I can only imagine how much I'm going to miss my boys, but I'm sure I will be kept so busy that I won't have time to mope about it. And I get to ring them everyday.

The whole concept of travelling is exciting, since I haven't been overseas for 5 years. Last time I was in New York visiting my cousin, and then Philadelphia for a Diabetes conference. I've never been to Canada before. Lots of my dad's family live there, but they are in Vancouver and Calgary. I did think about taking a detour first to visit them, but it was going to be too difficult. It is easy for me to have a few days in Toronto first, and since Jenn lives in Ajax which is very close, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet her.
Woohoo! Canada, here I come!