Journal, v.4

:noticing God's glory: 

Just under a year ago, this sweet little guy came into our lives. How fast he's grown, and how lovable and happy he is. His birthday is on Friday and I can't believe it!

:listening to: not much of anything.

:clothing myself in: black athletic pants, several lounge-y days in a row. I need to wash those so badly. So I can lounge in them again this week. I am not much of a yoga pants person, I try to get more dressed up in the morning, but we didn't leave the house all week... and I don't think Nate has gotten fully dressed for 9 days. Even though I've gotten clothes out for him every day! (I have made him change his jammies daily.) ;)

:thinking: about how unfun it is to be sick. The big boys are fiiinally better (10 days for Nate!), Andrew has an awful case of croup and I came down with it suddenly this afternoon. I wish we could have all gotten it at the same time!

:pondering prayerfully: Abandonment. Really, really good. I need to work on this.

:cultivating rhythm: once again, no rhythm. Far from it. I was hoping for a return to it this week, but the sicks hit me hard today, so, we'll see about that.

:creating by hand: nothing. BUT my friend Lindsey @ Happier Than a Bird Quilts posted this lovely quilt on her Facebook page and I fell in love. Then she mentioned that she was planning on selling it and just like that, it became mine. Er, Andrew's. A pop of color in his otherwise white corner of the world. Which reminds me of my informal resolution to make 3 quilts this year... good thing there are still 11 months left.

:learning lessons in: joy? A friend just posted something about the Joy Dare and I am really considering doing it. With the fancy app, of course, even though I love the way the printable list looks, because I know that I will keep up with it better on my phone, not misplace my sheet, etc.

:encouraging learning: I have decided we do not read NEARLY enough. We are taking a full 20 minutes a day to read this week, no matter what. And longer if they are up for it. Ben would read forever; Nate is not as interested. Too bad. ;) We read for quite a while this evening. Love the I-Spy books!

:keeping house: Barely keeping my head above. By next Sunday I want to have things in decent order. That gives me 6 days for some progress. (On the plus side, since we've spent so many episodes in our bathroom with the steamy shower for Andrew, I've gotten the counters/mirror wiped off a bunch while I'm in there holding him! Silver lining.)

:in the kitchen: I have done very little there this week (I did frantically call Brian to bring home Chick-fil-a one night, so, yeah). This week - a birthday cake for Andrew.

:loving the moments:

8 years ago (yesterday), that cute Brian guy told me he liked me... and it turned into a pretty good thing. ;) He brought me this. Yes, that man knows me so very well. The Butterfinger is already gone.

:planning for the week ahead: Possible playdate with our friends, depending on the health of everyone here. I do NOT want to pass along germs! 1st birthday party for Andrew on Saturday.

:funny things: Our garage is full of stuff that needs to be moved to the basement, so my car has been parked in the driveway for a couple weeks (which hasn't really been a big deal because, did I mention our 10 day quarantine?) But last week, before the sickness, we were running a few errands, and went out to the car to find it covered in frost. Something I don't normally think about! Today I took Ben with me to Mass so he could get out, since we were keeping the others home. It had rained overnight and the car had giant droplets on it. He kept talking about where is the frosting on the car!?!? I could not figure out what he meant. Then it hit me. Frost = frosting.

I got a summons for jury duty. Is that funny? :P It's actually for a Tuesday (weird?) and Brian usually has Tuesdays off, so I figure I will go and see what's up. If it's a long trial I will ask to be let go because of childcare issues, obviously, but if it's only a day or two, I can snag a sitter... if I'm ever going to do it, now is a pretty good time, since I don't have a nursling. Brian has gotten called 2 or 3 times since we've lived in this county (almost 4 years) and has always gotten cancelled the evening before, so that's a big possibility, too.

One of the books we read tonight. H is for chicken, he says.

Sicks

I just realized I've only taken pictures one time this whole year so far. January is slipping through our fingers!



We have the sicks around here this week. Andrew's cold has been ongoing for weeks and weeks now. I FINALLY took him to the doctor Monday. When they asked "how long has he been sick?" I couldn't even answer the question! That sounds terrible. He has just had some chest congestion and a runny nose for the longest time. At first I thought it was a cold, and then maybe teething... but from a conversation I looked back at on Facebook, it appears he's had this for a full month. Well, two ear infections and bronchiolitis! Poor baby. He is SO SO good-natured though, and really has been sleeping pretty well, there was no way to know it was really more than just a cold! I always hesitate to jump to antibiotics, but we had been doing home remedies that were not helping. We went ahead and did them, and he is FINE now. Within 2 days his chest was completely clear. This happened with him before, over the summer - so I have to wonder if it really was more than just a virus, and actually some kind of bacterial infection.

I feel like my babies always get sick really young! Nate had chicken pox at 2 months, Ben had a BAD case of bronchiolitis and we had to do a bunch of breathing treatments (and he still has problems with constricted airways when he gets sick because of that), Andrew had an ear infection & strep at 4 months and we did breathing treatments over the summer, and he's been sick so much since then. I guess they build up their immune system a lot that first year... they are pretty healthy as toddlers, so?

One of the hard things about being a parent that I never really thought about before having kids is that YOU make the judgment calls on these kinds of things. All of them. Do they need to go to the doctor? Does this cut need stitches? Is this ER-worthy? I hate making the final decision! I always worry that what I decide will be the wrong thing - either I should have taken him in earlier, or I overreacted. But usually whatever we decide ends up being the best thing. There is something to that "mom gut." (not the literal kind.) Moms know! Usually.  (And yes, I usually do call my mom and ask her what she thinks.) :)

this is from Christmas! he is always so cheerful and pleasant. always.

So Andrew is on the mend. But Ben. Oh Ben! He has had a bad case of the grumpies lately, which is unusual for him. I should have known something was coming. (And he says at least 47 times a day, "OH, I have a boo-boo! Kiss it!" with a sad face, sometimes tears. But that is normal.) He has had a fever on and off now for a couple days. Tonight he was pretty pleasant but his temp was 101.6.

Nate did not nap today (a pretty normal occurrence lately!) Normally around 7 he utters a "Oh Mommy, I'm tired..." tonight it happened at 5:30. He stayed up WAY too late playing in his bed last night so I wasn't surprised. But then he went from acting totally normal to acting sick. I took his temp and it was climbing. He acted like he really did NOT feel well so we gave him Tylenol (not really for the fever, it wasn't super high yet). Before Brian had even pulled the dropper all the way out of his mouth he said "OH, I feel really better now!"* and then went up and laid down in bed and crashed.

So, we'll see what tomorrow brings. Maybe they will both wake up fever free? I know several people who have had a random fever day and then, fine. I also know some people with the flu (although I don't *think* we have been exposed to it), so this could go either way.

* The whole reason I started to write this post is because I wanted to remember this incident. SO cute and funny. Medicine is like magic to him. I caught him with the (empty) dropper one day. "Mom, I have to take this medicine so I can feel better." I love him.