Malawi Chip-In (UPDATED)

This is going to be so much fun! I'm super excited! Here's the deal! I've been talking for awhile about my college roomate Jamie and how she and her husband are going to Malawi, Africa for a year! A YEAR! She's giving up her cute little condo in Charlotte, both she and her husband are sacrificing jobs they love, they'll be away from their families for every major holiday for a year, and there's no Starbucks or Outback or Target (oh dear!!!) in Malawi. This is a big deal and I want to support them in every way I can and I hope that you'll join me!

**Just so you know - it takes awhile for the amount you donate to show up. It doesn't show up right away. In fact it doesn't even show up with in an hour. So if you've contributed and don't see it yet, don't worry! I also found out that I do get an email everytime someone contributes, so that's helpful even if you don't leave a comment.***
Micah 6:8 is always on my mind these days. It says; "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." I can't think of a place filled with more injustice than AFRICA and I believe with all my heart that the LORD requires me to do something about it. What about you?

So here is the plan! My goal is to raise $300 in about one month's time! We can definitely do that. You know you easily spend that in a trip to Walmart, a stop at McDonalds and tank full of gas! But I'm not asking you to spend $300.00! I'm asking you to spend $1 or $3 or $5! And for every dollar you donate you name will be entered into a drawing to win a prize package of these fabulous prizes:

Isn't this little hobo bag cute! You'll be fashionably ready for spring with this adorable purse!

And did I mention that it's reversible!

And inside the purse you'll find this cross bead necklace made by a child orphaned by AIDS in Uganda. I picked this up when the Watoto children's choir came to our church a few weeks ago.

And of course I wouldn't leave out your kids! A brand new Jay Jay the Jet Plane DVD rounds out this prize package!

So if you donate $5 your name will be put in the drawing 5 times. If you donate $1 your name will be entered into the drawing 1 time! Got it? Simple, fun and for a great cause! You do need to leave me a comment on this post to let me know how much you donated, so I know how many times to enter your name! If you would rather email me, that's fine to, but the easiest thing to do is leave a comment!

And let me leave you with this quote that really made me search my own heart:

“Giving in the church today is embarrassing at best. So, there needs to be a message, a movement that addresses the problem in this very prosperous nation that reminds us and reinforces the fact that God has blessed this nation and blessed us as a people for a reason, not to buy the next car or a bigger house. God has blessed America so that we will purpose to reach out to others and in doing so accomplishing HIS will, doing HIS work, and then HE is glorified.” (Pastor Bob Coy)

And just incase you didn't watch it the last time I posted it, this is the video that made my heart stop. It changed me forever and that's why you're hearing about AFRICA again and probably AGAIN! We have got to do something!

Negative

McKenna's RSV test was NEGATIVE! I'm so relieved! She still sounds awful, really awful, but at least it's not a virus and it should respond to the antibiotic she's on. We were supposed to go back to the doctor today to have her checked, but they decided to close early because of the snow and I was not about to take the entire crew to the doctor's office again, I really wanted to do it when Amy got off work. Oh well, we'll do it tomorrow.

McKenna has really started fighting her nebulizer. I'm not quite sure what to do about that other than just holding her down and making her do it. I wish the part she's supposed to put in her mouth was a teether, because then she would love it! Someone should invent that!

I hope all of you locals are enjoying the snow and that the rest of you southerners aren't too jealous! I really need to find a good place to take Christian sledding. Our yard has a slight slope and I thought it was quite pathetic when the kids started referring to it as a hill today. We need to find them a real hill around here. Let me know if you've got a suggestion that's within 15 min. of my house.

The JOY of SNOW

We started out the morning by decorating our 'snow buckets.' I've had these buckets for awhile and have just been waiting for a big snow!
Nate was the one who thought this was a grand activity. Look at all the scribbling on his bucket! He went to town!

And then there is Emma who neatly put snowflakes on hers.

Then it was out into the bitter cold!

Snow much fun!

Nate spent most of his time swinging!

The girls "making it snow."

Let it SNOW

Pictures and fun stuff coming soon!

In just a minute I'll be busy zipping up snow pants, digging out sleds, trying to find matching gloves and making sure everyone goes potty!

I love SNOW days!

What do you do...

when it's freezing outside and you've got five kids to entertain for an entire day! Why you make a "tent park" of course!

Emma was off today so the dynamic in our home was a little different. It's amazing how one extra personality can add so much drama.
So the kids basically spent the day destroying the house. I had this grand idea that if I got out every tent we own and made a "tent park" that they would be entertained for awhile. It worked but it soon became tents, forts out of couch cushions, and all sorts of other structures using everything from the aquadoodle mats to blankets. I love pop up tents and tunnels because they don't take up that much room to store and it's the kind of thing you can put away for months at a time and then it's all new and exciting when you set them up again.

Oh the joy of destruction.

There were other tents out too, but not in this picture. It was a busy day of imagining around here! Wonder what we're going to do tomorrow? I really don't have any good ideas!

Just Overheard

"Dear Jesus,

Did you know that McKenna's really sick? Well, she is and we had to go to the doctor again. And we have to go tomorrow. Could you just make her better so we don't have to go there anymore? I can't hear you. Did you say you would make her better? Tell mommy if you're going to make her better or not, she always hears you.

AMEN."

-Spoken at bedtime by Christian-

Well, the truth is I don't always HEAR Jesus, but I do know what God's word says and I believe that that is how he speaks to us. So whenever Christian tells Jesus that he's sorry for something he's done wrong I always tell him that Jesus said he would forgive him because that's what the Bible says. Apparently he thinks I actually have phone conversations with Jesus. I love that boy's FAITH!

BLOG Books

There is HOPE! Remember how I blogged about my treasured blog book awhile ago? Remember how the company Blurb.com did a great job making my book but they're having problems now and there will be NO more blog books from them (at least for right now)? Well, my friend Jamie told me about an alternative to Blurb and I am so excited. I've checked it out, but haven't actually used it yet. But it looks promising. So don't despair! There is HOPE! Let me know how it works out if you use this new company! Head on over to sharedbook.com to check it out!

The DETAILS

Only a handful of you might be interested in all these details, but you know I have to record it for the book :) and because when God moves I think it's important to give him the glory he deserves. My mom needed to have surgery for 3 years. She's been putting this off because we were expecting it to be awful and we were prepared for a LONG recovery. So she retired this year and I wasn't having a baby and there wasn't any other drama going on, so she thought the timing was pretty good.

My mom has had several other surgeries. Most recently she has had two major foot surgeries and those have both been extremely difficult. The first foot surgery was the worst. The threw up for three days straight and was in tremendous pain. Her recovery lasted weeks longer than originally planned. Christian actually learned to walk that summer by pulling up on her wheelchair. Her second foot surgery was slightly better because we knew how her body reacted to anethesia and we knew that she couldn't stomach any kind of narcotic drugs. She was still violently ill after that surgery even with lots of anti-nausea drugs. Needless to say we didn't have great expectations for this surgery.

But with this surgery Mom's surgeon was incredible. He was supposed to accomplish six different things with this surgery. When he spoke with me after the surgery he explained that he only did five of the planned things because he didn't feel confident that he could do the sixth thing well because of some other issues. How many surgeons do you know who would admit to that? He was so humble, so refreshing! And quite frankly I don't think the sixth thing was needed because he accomplished the other five with such perfection!

When I headed back into the recovery room I was preparing for the worst. Gearing myself up for the inevitable hours of vomitting, but mom was sitting up chatting with the nurse rather alert about everything. She never did throw up and that is a direct answer to PRAYER! I absolutely consider that a miracle.

Mom spent Friday night in the hospital and I think her greatest discomfort was the fact that they wouldn't let her have any solid food. I snuck her a few crackers from the cafeteria to try to take the edge off!

On Saturday morning they asked her about her pain level and she consistently told them that she wasn't in pain at all. And when I talked to her today she sounded great, has more energy than I ever thought she would have. She's made dinner and has been up and walking around the house. And she's NOT even taking Tylenol! AMAZING!

I also have to tell you what a great hospital GBMC in Baltimore is! The nurses were great! I stayed with mom overnight because I think it's important for patients to have someone there to advocate for them when they're really ill, but it was unnecessary. Every one of mom's needs was immediately taken care of. I think that's the first time I can say that about any hospital! I'll never forget the time I was in the hospital overnight after surgery and my call button for my nurse didn't work. Thank goodness I wasn't there by myself.

So that's the scoop! Thanks for praying!

Psalms 34:8
"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."

Reactive Airway Disease, RSV and all that good stuff!

McKenna was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease this past fall when she got pneumonia for the second time in her short life! That basically means that whenever she gets a simple cold or virus it is likely that all that junk will end up in her lungs. It also means that it is more likely that she will have asthma when she's a bit older. With this in mind we have been diligent about running a humidifier ALL THE TIME and we give her breathing treatments at the slightest sign of trouble. I am constantly harping on everyone about hand washing and this time all that just wasn't enough.

(McKenna's cute little humidifier. Anyone have one like it? I haven't figured out a good way to clean the inside. Let me know if you have a suggestion.)

McKenna's been pretty sick since last Wednesday. I had her at the doctor on Thursday hoping for an antibiotic to head this off. They thought she was just teething and even told me to stop the nebulizer treatments. Glad I didn't listen. Sometimes mommies just know their babies best! On Saturday Ryan took her back in and they said it wasn't in her lungs, but that we should definitely start doing nebulizer treatments (like we had already been doing). Today she was worse, so I took all five kids (Em had a teacher work day today) to the pediatrician's office. I hate taking them all there first of all because it's just a nightmare to keep everyone in line and quiet and then there's all the buckling of car seats and holding hands in the parking lot. But I especially HATE it because that place is filled with germs. So we broke out McKenna's birthday present a little early and used it in the waiting room, so we wouldn't be tempted to touch other germ infested stuff.

(You're probably wondering why on earth we're giving a one year old a DVD player. Doesn't seem so appropriate does it. But I really wanted it and needed an excuse to buy it. It's so great. Great in the doctor's office. Great in the car. The kids can drop it and it doesn't matter. It's going to be quite handy. If you want one go to TARGET, I got this one 50% off).

I was armed with lollipops, movies and skittles and the whole thing went pretty well until they told me I was going to have to go to the hospital for an RSV test for McKenna.

Yup, they think she has RSV which really stinks because it can be very serious and because it's a virus and they can't do much for her. I'm not too worried because McKenna is pretty tough. She doesn't have any other medical issues to complicate this, so I'm not panicked. They sucked some mucus out of her nose and put it on ice for me to take to the hospital, which meant buckling all five again and then unbuckling them and then buckling them again when we were done. I just couldn't handle the thought of it, so I called Amy and told her I needed her. It's quite convenient that she works right next to the hospital, so she sat in the car with the five, while I went in and took care of all the lab paper work.

Whew! We're home and just waiting to hear if it's RSV. Pray that it's not. I'm going to get dinner for my kiddos and then head back out to the pharmacy to pick up McKenna's prescription. Oh and did I mention that we're really missing our Daddy. This stuff always happens when he's gone.

Just Like Daddy!

As you know I was gone for two nights last week. When I got home on Saturday Ryan told me that Christian had been playing with baby dolls all day. He's never been one to play with baby dolls so I was a little surprised, but didn't think much of it. Then Christian called me up to his room to show me how he put his baby to bed in the top bunk. And he told me that he wants to be a daddy when he grows up. Oh melt my heart! Of course he wants to be a daddy and play with babies because he had been watching his daddy take care of a sick little McKenna for two days.
And this baby thing has continued. This is how I found him sound asleep last night! I love it that he wants to be just like his daddy! And I hope he turns out just like him!

Old Blog

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm shutting down the old blog on Monday night. So if you're still getting to our new blog by way of our old blog (hmmm...this is starting to sound confusing) then make sure you book mark the new blog. Also if you've linked this blog to your blog or if you were "following" our old blog, make sure you switch all that to the new blog. Hope you've had a good weekend. I know all my pictureless (I don't really think that's a word) posts are probably getting boring, so I'll try to come up with something a little more exciting tomorrow!

I'm Home!

Ahhh...I just got a shower and changed my clothes for the first time in 36 hours so I'm feeling pretty good right now! I spent the night last night in the hospital with my mom and I must say that I definitely prefer my bed to those wonderful plastic recliners they have. Ohhh....I can't wait to go to bed. I hurried home because McKenna's not feeling too great and my mom is doing incredible! If she would have let me take pictures of her you would see just how great she looks, but I did not document this hospital visit in photos. Much to her relief I left my camera at home.

When I have more time I'm going to have to give you very detail of how amazing the last 36 hours has been. We have been so so blessed. I stand in awe at the mercy God has poured out on my mom. The nurses kept asking her how her pain level was on a scale of 1-10 and she would consistently tell them 1 or 0. I was expecting absolute misery, but our GOD had other plans and he is bringing healing to my mom at record speed.

And I love this blog. I love you guys! I know that so many people were praying and God moved on Mom's behalf because of those prayer! Mom is home now, probably sitting in her recliner watching TV or dozing! Amy is there until tomorrow and my Dad is ready to wait on her hand and foot! We are all so relieved, so blessed, so in awe of what God's done!

Update

Hey, this is Ryan making my blog debut. I just wanted to give a quick update on Judy's mom. Thanks so much for praying. Her surgery was successful and her recovery is going well. She has not gotten sick to her stomach yet, and she is in very little pain. Judy is with her now, and she should be discharged tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile the chaos will continue at home with me and the kids (plenty of cartoons and pizza for everyone....don't tell Judy though). Have a great weekend!

My Mommy!

Every time I have a baby or Ryan donates bone marrow (okay, that only happened once) or we have any major drama in our lives MY MOM shows up and keeps our lives together! Until Amy moved to town we didn't live near any family and there are some things you can only ask your mom to do, like come visit when your entire household is throwing up! I can't even count the times my mom has stepped in and held sick babies, cleaned my house with the kind of detail I never have time for, cooked meals, folded laundry, etc. How thankful I am that she retired this year. We couldn't have survived the fall without her.

Well, the tables have turned this time and I am currently at a hospital in Baltimore with my mom. My mom is having MAJOR surgery this morning. I'm not going to go into great detail because she's not one for having the entire blog world know her business. But this is MAJOR. She's going to be spending at least one night in the hospital. We're expecting her recovery to take about 8 weeks. So I'm going to be spending a few nights with her while Ryan juggles the kids at home. He'll be fine. I left him with lots of chicken nuggets, cheese sticks and even a meatloaf. No one is going to starve!

So as you're reading this would you please ask God to be with my mom RIGHT NOW! Pray that the surgeon's hands will be skillful and that his work will be swift and precise. And ESPECIALLY pray for my mom's recovery. I've been through two other surgeries with her and she does NOT handle anesthesia well at all. She usually throws up constantly for at least 6 hours if not more (sometimes it's been days). She also can not take prescription painkillers without throwing up. This is a real issue and one that we really need to cover in prayer. This surgery is major and she's really going to need some pain meds. I'm going to ask GOD for something big, something that I would consider a MIRACLE. I'm asking the Lord to not only take away my mom's nausea, but I'm going to ask him to keep her from throwing up entirely! Would you JOIN ME in praying for my mom?

I set this post to post about an hour before her surgery! So right now mom should be prepping for surgery. Just pray that she'll have peace. She's been dreading this. To be honest, so have I. It's not going to be pleasant!

I'll post an update when I can. I'm not sure when that will be. If I can't get to it today then I'll try to get Amy to post an update!

Thanks so much for praying. It means so much to me to know that my precious mom is covered in prayer!

Love you guys!

BPA Free

See that cute little binkie in McKenna's mouth. Well, it's history! We haven't completely abandoned her precious binkie, but we've switched. McKenna's former binkies were the Nuk brand made by Gerber.

These are McKenna's new binkies. Definitely NOT as cute but they are BPA free. If you don't know what BPA is, it's a chemical that is used to harden plastic and when a plastic product that contains BPA is heated, some of the BPA can leak into the substance you're heating. There is great debate over whether or not this is harmful.You can find websites with documented research like this that proclaim how safe BPA is. And then you can find zillions of articles and documented research (like this) that tells you how toxic BPA can be. I don't know whether to be worried about it or not. I figured it would probably be a good idea to at least switch to a BPA free binkie (see that little circle on the bottom left side of the packaging of McKenna's new binkie) since McKenna sucks on her binkie all night long. McKenna is already using BPA free bottles and now I'm trying to decide if I should switch all of our sippy cups.

I'm thrilled that Playtex is going BPA free (if you go to their website you can get some free drop in liners for their bottles). All of their products should be BPA free by the end of the year. Sippy cups, binkies, most bottles and bottle liners already are. Gerber doesn't seem to be too worried about this whole BPA thing. You can't find a thing about it on their website. So I now buy our baby food in glass jars instead of their plastic ones.

I would love to know your thoughts on this subject. Have you heard about this before? Has your pediatrician brought it up? Are you worried about it at all?

I'm probably NOT going to gut my cabinets of every plastic container and sippy cup. I do however plan to pay attention to what I buy from here on out. And I will probably encourage new moms to choose BPA free items for their babies!

Let me know what you think!

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done a Thankful Thursday in awhile and thought it was about time!

Today I've been grouchy. Fussy with Christian and all over him about everything. Ticked at him that I took almost an hour planning a preschool activity and then he gave me an attitude about doing it. And it really would have been fun. I guess I can't blame him for not wanting to do an activity with ME today. I didn't get a good night's sleep last night because McKenna is cutting both of her top teeth, she's congested and was coughing all night. I even took her to the doctor because I was afraid the congestion was moving into her chest (it's not). So I haven't been a great mom today and I know I'm not ever going to be perfect but I still am disappointed in myself for my lack of patience, for my lack of self control with my words, for the lack of joy in my home today.

So it's time to regroup. And today I'm just simply thankful for the cross and the fact that I know exactly where I will spend eternity. And thank God that he loves me and will one day welcome me to the place he has prepared for me, despite all my imperfect!

I love this picture of the road full of ruts leading to the heavens. Seems a bit like my life today. Not beautiful or perfect but it gets the job done :) So I'm going to get off the computer and start doing a little better now! Thanks for letting me share!

Matthew 7: 13 & 14
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

EEk!

I just wrote a check for Christian's preschool registration. Problem is, I wrote the check to a preschool that I haven't visited yet. But the competition is steep and I'm not so sure about that other preschool I visited this week. What to do, what to do! So I'm going to register at two places and then really PRAY that I start to have some PEACE about this one way or another! Can you tell that this decision is really bugging me?

Hey Mommies!

Praise Baby just started a new blog about their products and they're having a giveaway! Gotta love a giveaway. Even if you don't have a baby you could save it as a shower gift for someone else. Click on over there to enter!

Dream Home Giveaway

I don't know about you but I can totally see myself sleeping in this room! Gorgeous!
And look at this dining room! I could see myself sitting there, with you, enjoying a meal cooked by someone else (Have I ever told you about my cooking?).
Well the best part about this house is it's FREE! Yup! HGTV is giving it away. I'm planning on winning, but just in case I don't I definitely want one of you to win so you can have me over :)
CLICK HERE to enter!

Growing up is HARD on Mommy!

That little cutie pie in the laundry basket is Christian when he was six months old and quite frankly when I look at that picture I feel like crawling into bed and crying. You see, I visited a preschool this morning. The preschool that Christian will probably go to next fall. And last week I ended up in the boys clothes section in Target. It seems he's a boys size small or extra small. How did that happen? It hit me today that if he goes to preschool in the fall and then to kindergarten the following year, that my leisurely days with him are limited. That makes me SAD!

(Christian and Abby in October of 2005, the week Nate was born.)

Christian and Abby are playing downstairs together right now. They're being all wild and probably destroying the cleaning up we just did. They are the best of friends despite the fact that I can currently hear Christian saying "Abbygirl!" Which he thinks is her full name and he only uses that when he's frustrated. Hmmm...I'm going to miss hearing that next year when Abby's in Kindergarten all day. I know preschool is what Christian needs. It will be extremely good for him. I know I could just teach him at home, but he would listen much better to a teacher and I think he would be motivated by the other kids in the class. Right now he's not too interested in following any kind of directions when we do school work and I know it would be different if he were in another setting. So there's no doubt in my mind that this is the right choice, I just don't want my little boy to grow up!

I know there are much bigger things going on in the world today. We've now got a new president and I'm sure the rest of the world knows exactly what Michelle Obama was wearing today, but I have no clue. I haven't even had the TV on today. And I really don't feel like I'm missing much. I'm going to go read a few books with the wild kids downstairs and maybe get the playdough out!

Irresistible

Sorry, you can't have her! She's mine!

We LOVE our big COUSINS!

You're probably wondering why you are priviledged enough to get to see the inside of my dishwasher filled with dirty dishes. Well, that's because I'm not the one who loaded it! I've got to give a shout out to my favorite BIG 5 year old ABBY! Today we were wrapping up lunch and I asked her to clear the table while I laid McKenna down for her nap. Not only did Abby clear the table, but she rinsed the dishes and she loaded the dishwasher. This was absolutely shocking to me. I've had her do this with me before, but never has she done something this grand on her own! She's growing up so fast. We were doing some writing today and she would ask me how to spell a word and I would spell it and she would write it. She never said, "How do you write that letter?" She just knew it! My word, has she come a long way.

And then there's Nate. It took forever to get rid of his binkie and potty training is going at about the same rate, but we will get there! He doesn't even think about that binkie anymore. Nate had to get a bath today after a little potty training incident on my couch (don't even get me started) and Nate HATES getting water in his face or on his head. He usually cries and carries on and I didn't feel like dealing with that today, so I told him to do it himself. I handed him the sprayer and said 'get your hair wet' AND HE DID! This post is mainly for the benefit of Nate's mom, dad, and grandmom who might have just fallen off their chairs reading this. He sprayed his head, his face including his eyes, his belly, etc. I think he just needed to be in control.

And in case you need a visual to see just how far we've come these snow pictures were taken on this date last year (January 19, 2008). I was oh so pregnant and Amy came home from work and took the kids out to play. And there is our dear little Nathan playing in the snow WITH HIS BINKIE - we've come a long way!
Cutie pie Abby a year ago!

And here's Emma. Look at how young her face looks. Believe it or not, Abby is wearing that coat this year!

Could it be?

That I'm going to have two train lovers in my house? This girl is learning early!

Are you wondering...

how the medicine dispensing has been going? Thanks for all your advice!! Definitely helpful! Well, this picture is proof that we took bribery to a whole new level. He got this punching bag after taking just one dose of medicine. I know, totally lame parenting!

But I think we've had a break through. He just need to get past the crying, screaming, kicking, biting, throwing-up, trauma of it all and realize that it really wasn't so bad. So if it took Lightning McQueen to get there, then so be it! On Saturday morning I mixed the medicine in with some super strong orange juice and then told him if he would drink it all he would get a prize. He proceeded to tell me that I could just give the prize to Daddy because he didn't want to drink that "yuck." So I whipped out the best prize I had (the punching bag that was supposed to be a Valentine's Day gift) and once he saw it he couldn't resist. An hour later he had finally downed all of his medicine (yes, it still took him an hour) and he got his prize. We've continued with the prize bribery twice a day but thankfully he settled on a lollipop tonight (a cheaper bribe that makes me quite happy :)

Looking for advice!!!

I know I'm not the only mom in the world with this problem, so I'm looking for a little advice here! Christian woke up with a sore throat yesterday which wasn't too much of a surprise since Nate has been acting lethargic and not eating for a few days. So we headed to the doctor for the dreaded throat swab and it came back positive for strep!! Just great!

Now here's the issue. Christian will not take medicine. I'm serious. It's horrible. You can't reason with him, you can't trick him, you can't bribe him and holding him down just makes him throw up and cry hysterically. It's awful. Thankfully he doesn't need much medicine so I usually ask for that awful antibiotic shot, so we can just get it over with and not deal with it twice a day for ten days. Well, the kid is 3 1/2 now and they gave him amoxicillin. I thought he could handle it. I couldn't have been more wrong. Even with his most favorite treat, an "ice sandwich" (also known as an ice cream sandwich) as a bribe, he would have none of it. So Ryan and I held him down and he gaged and choked and kicked and hit us. I think I used about half the bottle just trying to give him a 1 tsp dose. And we've got 9 more days of this. He won't take chewable meds either. I crushed up some chewable pink Tylenol last night and put it in a sprinkle jar and sat a bowl of ice cream in front of Christian and then asked if he wanted sprinkles. Of course he said "yes" so I sprinkled the Tylenol on and that seemed to work pretty well, but later he told me he wanted more ice cream but that he didn't like those sprinkles. Oh for Pete's sake. So I'm trying and failing with this dear strong willed child of mine. So share away....let me know what tricks you use. I tried to sneak it into his drink this morning and he had that figured out with the first sip.