Today was our last day at the beach. We packed up the canopy and chairs and brought them back to the condo.
This week while on vacation, Madison and Parker have been sleeping in the same bed. At home they get mad because we don't let them sleep together very often and now that they have to they fight about it....
Madison: MOM, Parker is on my pillow.
Me: Parker, PLEASE get off your sisters pillow.
Parker: OK Mom.
6.5 minutes later......
Madison: He is on it again......
WELL, WELL, Miss. Madison is GUILTY about sleeping on Parker's pillow......
Today we went on a Dolphin Cruise. I don't think the boys got too much out of it other than the fact that they were on a boat and the wind was in their face! Sadly below is the best photo I got while on the cruise.
Somebody is a poser in this photo....guess who!
I don't think he will ever get enough of the sand.....
Well, we are having a BLAST on vacation! It is great to be here with only our family! The kids are having tons of fun too! Today we went to the beach in the morning and this evening we went to see some alligators. I forgot my camera for that one but we did have fun! Tomorrow we are going on a dolphin cruise! Can't wait!
Yeppers, We made it to Florida! Last night we watched fireworks over the Destin Harbor and it was great! Check back for more photos from the day! Now (yeah I am typing whild Daniel is driving :) we are headed to breakfast and then to our condo! I can't wait!
Ok, so it is 1:50 a.m. and I am very nervous about starting in the water tomorrow.....Please pray that everything goes well! I will post about it later!!
On July 1st our family blog will be going private.
There are things going on right now in our family that are for my regular readers eyes only....
Please email me at jennifer.feagans@gmail.com to let me know that you would like to be a reader of our blog.
Here is a tid bit of why....
Our family was involved with the PAT (Parents As Teachers) program through our school district and well we had 1 lady that came to our home and she ended up being a pain....and so we got a different lady and she ended up accusing me of some pretty awful stuff....so there for I am going private with this blog. We loved that program so if you are a reader of this blog and you are in the program I would really reconsider the person that you are letting come into your home.....they may be talking about you behind your back ;)
I may open a public blog later but I am still not sure about that. Our children's privacy is important too :)
The Miles Video is the video at the top of my blog that is of the little boy preforming the ISR skills to survive! I found this on the ISR website and thought I would share it!
Many of you who have seen the video segment on YOUTUBE or various blogs on the internet, have asked about the 11 month baby who, along with his father and the family dog, are in the videoclip. The baby had 3 weeks of ISR lessons prior to having his simulated self rescue while fully clothed skills videotaped. It is a re-enacted drowning scenario that happened to a family whose baby was not skilled and therefore drowned. In the scene we taped, both his mother and father were present at the taping along with several other adults and his ISR Instructor. As part of ISR lessons, parents are involved in the water once their baby is skilled, for at-home practice only and you see that they have practiced at home the end of the clip, when his father picks him up. The video was scripted and shot to be part of the Pediatric Grand Rounds presentations Dr. Barnett uses at major children's hospitals throughout the United States to educate the health care professionals as part of their continuing medical education. In its unedited form, it can be viewed in the Pediatric Grand Rounds presentation from the University of Arizona Tucson Medical Center's webcast of that event. Please realize that this is a presentation for medical doctors, nurses and others who deal with the aftermath of medical emergencies such as drowning and near-drowning, so there are graphic portions that are not suitable viewing for anyone of a sensitive nature. Since the number one question that physicians attending Grand Rounds ask is, "how long can a skilled baby maintain himself independently in the water?", we answered the question in the video with a 5 minute float. In the segment they see, they can view all 5 minutes of the sustained back float. 5 minutes is of special significance for the physicians since they know that the chances of fully recovering a child who has been without air for that long is very remote. Today as a 4 year old, this little boy is a tremendous swimmer. He swims most everyday in the backyard pool or at an aquatic center but he really prefers the Ocean. To say that he loves the water is an understatement. He is an accomplished snorkeler and can safely dive down 15 feet to see the fish he is learning to identify. His obvious comfort level in the water is the result of his early ISR lessons, he will never remember a time when he was not very skilled in the water. He already shows great respect for the water and his skills since he asks an adult for permission to go into the water. BECAUSE he is so very skilled in the water, he is closely supervised.
So do you remember about 3 months ago when I started the process to become an ISR Instructor.....well.....I AM!!! I am so excited to have such a very AWESOME job! Thanks to everyone for all of your support and prayers for this to finally become a reality.
My Website is now open with information about ISR!
For Mother's Day this year my family got me a new "little" camera. The reason I say little is because I also have a Canon 20D. I needed a new one because Parker decided it would be fun to push in the zoom lens on my "little" old camera and it broke. Below I have posted a photo I took with my new little camera! I looks like I would have taken this with my 2oD....but I didn't!
After the wonderful comment that you left on my blog I would like to invite you to come and watch all 3 of my children swim. They would all love to show off their skills that they will remember for a lifeTIME!
Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations. Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night. Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep. Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I w ould lov e being a Mom. Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy. Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom. Send this to someone who you think is a special Mom. I just did! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!
If that is how you are feeling since I have not blogged in FOREVER I am sorry. I have been super busy finishing up my ISR training and redoing our back yard.....yeah I hate yard work unless it is beautiful out there. And we have been blessed with 65*-75* weather.
As for me and the family, we are all still here we have just been super busy.....Hope you all are doing GREAT!!!!!
Please pay attention to the below statistics that are in RED text. I am sorry that you feel the way you do about the decision that my husband and I have made to put our children in this program. We know that we cannot protect our children from everything. But what we cannot protect them from we must prepare them for....that my friend is drowning. I welcome you or anyone else who comes to this blog to ask questions, contact me with concerns or if you would like to just simply comment on things I welcome you to do that too.
Currently I am in my 5th and final week of training to become an instructor and I could not be more happy to help safe guard children from this NASTY, NASTY killer.
Comment left by Anonymous in Wichita, KS: "On a happy note? Watch this?" Are you insane? Watching that video, hearing sweet Lincoln making that pathetic little fussing noise, and being repeatedly thrown into the pool, makes me sick to my stomach. I have a better idea. Watch your children diligently and keep them away from pools (it can be done) until they are able to swim confidently and because THEY WANT TO. Sad, sad, sad. And I already know what your response will be, it saves lives, blah, blah, blah. Don't bother. That is the saddest thing, I've ever seen, and I only watched a few seconds of it. Signing off and never coming back. Comment was made on this video:
• Drowning is the leading cause of death for infants and young children in 18 states and, nationally, ranks 2nd only to automobile accidents, claiming lives of approximately 4,000 children each year and leaving another 12,000 with some form of permanent brain damage.
• Drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-related death among children under the age of 15. (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission reports 360 children die each year from drowning, and because; 1. Drowning is not a physician reportable phenomenon and 2. If the child does not die within the first 24 hours of the submersion incident, it does not get listed as a death by drowning. They artificially deflate numbers giving parents a false sense of security. Insurance companies report 1,000 deaths and the medical literature up to 4,000 children die each year from drowning.
• A swimming pool is 14 times more likely than a motor vehicle to be involved in the death of a child age 4 and under. (Orange County California Fire Authority)
• Children under five and adolescents between the ages of 15-24 have the highest drowning rates. (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• An estimated 5,000 children ages 14 and under are hospitalized due to unintentional drowning-related incidents each year; 15 percent die in the hospital and as many as 20 percent suffer severe, permanent neurological disability. (National Safety Council and Foundation for Aquatic Injury Prevention)
• Of all preschoolers who drown, 70 percent are in the care of one or both parents at the time of the drowning and 75 percent are missing from sight for five minutes or less. (Orange County, CA, Fire Authority)
• The majority of children who survive (92 percent) are discovered within two minutes following submersion (Branche 1999), fatal drowning remains the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years (CDC 2005).
• Minorities: Between 2000 and 2004, the fatal unintentional drowning rate for African Americans overall was 1.3 times that of whites. However, in certain age groups it was even higher. For example, the fatal unintentional drowning rate for 5-14 year old African Americans was 3.2 times higher than that for whites.
• Between 2000 and 2004, the fatal unintentional drowning rate overall for American Indians and Alaskan Natives was 1.8 times that of whites. In American Indian and Alaskan Native children 5-14 years old, it was 2.6 times higher than that of whites.
• Children aged 1-4 are most likely to drown in hot tubs, spas and swimming pools.
• Children aged 5-14 most often drown in swimming pools and open water such as rivers, lakes, dams and canals.
• In 10 states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington - drowning surpasses all other causes of death to children age 14 and under. Children who die (86 percent) are found after 10 minutes. Nearly all who require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) die or are left with severe brain injury. (CDC)
• In 2000, there were 3,482 unintentional drownings in the United States, an average of nine people per day. (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• It is estimated that for each drowning death, there are 1 to 4 nonfatal submersions serious enough to result in hospitalization. Children who still require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at the time they arrive at the emergency department have a poor prognosis, with at least half of survivors suffering significant neuralgic impairment. (American Academy of Pediatrics)
• 19 percent of drowning deaths involving children occur in public pools with certified lifeguards present.
• Children: In 2004, of all children 1-4 years old who died, 26% died from drowning (CDC 2006). Although drowning rates have slowly declined (Branche 1999), fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years (CDC 2005).
Infant Swimming Resource www. Infantswim.com
NATIONAL DROWNING STATISTICS: 58 percent of parents do not consider drowning a threat to their children. (Safe Kids Coalition)
Feagans Five
