Please Hold Me, Momma!

I had high hopes for the first week of the New Year. We returned from the Grandparents' on Sunday and we had a week to get our New Year started well...

• An Eve evening with friends from church
• A few days to get back into a routine
• A day or so to clean the house & put away Christmas decor
• Things to get our school organized
• Some quiet evenings to get my online classes started strong

And it hit!!

A strange cold virus or something that knocked us all over.... we had chills, coughing, no energy, no appetite, some throwing up.... basically what people refer to as "the crud"!

Besides the fact that I had NO energy, nasty congestion (I sounded like an old man for a couple of days... no offense to "old men") and a killer headache, the kids needed me to be their Momma.

The first days I was sick, only Nate was down with me. We snuggled on the couch for almost 2 days straight watching Little Einstein DVDs.... not quite "the life":) But it was sweet... kind of, minus the snot, croupy coughs and body aches.

Somewhere in all the days, as I looked around at my not-getting-cleaned, but getting-worse house and the pile to school work needed to be organized and planned, wasn't happening:( I began to get discouraged.

When the Ibruprofen started kicking in, I began to do a little. But I never seemed to get much done when I'd hear, "Please hold me, Momma!" precious! A welcome call to rest with him and do what Momma's do best when they really want to do the Momma-ing;)

Needless to say, my to-so list was set aside for almost our whole week. I did get "enough" done and we started school again Monday although I know none of us were really ready physically. We accomplished what we needed to and vegged again after the school work:)

Hoping we can "shake" this soon... so we can enjoy moving again!! And yes, get to some "fun stuff"!!

And if you haven't seen the video called One Mom Heart to Another.... it's a must SEE!! We need to hear the message... over and over;)

 I definitely look forward to reading through Sally Clarkson's new book as soon as I get my hands on a copy... oh, and a few hours to read it;)

More Nate-isms;)

Overheard from another room:
Nate: "Wydia, you play train track wif me?"
Lydia: I can't.
Nate: Why, you not play train track wif me?
Lydia: Because you're sitting on top of me. I can't get up!
Nate: Oh!
And they  both walk into the playroom:)

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Me: Nate, what is you're baby's name?
Nate : Miss Johnson [beaming]

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While visiting with grandparents Chris and I were in our bedroom and Chris noticed a picture on the dresser. It was a picture taken when Brian and I met his parents in Austria for a couple of days before we attended a conference in Hungary.... oh, the travels when we were kid-less;)

But I mistakenly told Chris that the picture was taken in Hungary. 

Chris looked at me confused, "Mom, why would you visit a country where everyone is hungry?"

Very sweetly and innocently asked;)


Now it's your turn to link up about what your kiddos are saying;)

The Smiles are Back

It seems like the colds we all had a Christmas keep reappearing every week in someone in our house. Maybe it's NOT the same cold... it's probably not, just with the crazy warm and then cold weather changes and germs... we're just continuing to battle coughing and runny noses.

This week it HIT Nate.... he's probably been the one dealing with the runny nose and coughing the most since Christmas! But this week it really stopped him. Earlier in the week his nose was CONSTANT. And then we noticed his sleep being affected by the coughing and congestion.

We knew it was time to take him to the doctors on Thursday afternoon. His personality had changed... he was grumpy. Only wanted to be held. Didn't want to eat. And began running a fever.

Over night was no better. Nate and I got very little sleep... going from the couch to my bed to his bed... he just couldn't get comfortable:( When he woke in the morning, we gave him another dose of Tylenol and he climbed back into his BED.... not a normal Nate :(

The doctor confirmed he was sick. A double ear infection! And obviously some infection as well with all his snot. The poor little guy just went through the day like a zoombie... on my hip or sleeping:( No words, no smiles :(

You can imagine the relief when Friday night our little boy looked like this;)

snacking and chatting with us;)

playing horse on Daddy's knee

By that time, he had only one dose of antibiotics for the ear infection. But he had one dose of baby ibuprofen which seems to work better for him that just Tylenol. He really started to act and look like our Nate again:)

Just a sweet moment to see smiles again!

And a reminder to be thankful that his illness wasn't anything worse. That we can go to a doctor to get the medication/help we need. And that he was on the road to recovery so quickly!

Those sweet, sweet smiles and jibber-jabber were such a precious gift after a long 24 hours.

Out in the Snow... finally

Christmas night we waited for the snow.... and waited.

By morning, we were NOT disappointed,

well not disappointed with the appearance of SNOW. TOns of it and it snowed the whole next day and night:)

But we were disappointed with the fact that we couldn't travel to Grandma and Grandaddy's until the roads were safe again:(


Sunday, church was canceled due to the snow and road conditions. The kids and Brian were out in the snow by 9:30 as it was falling;)

Nate and I got out after his afternoon nap later that 1st afternoon... I was really wanting to get Nate out in the snow to see how he would react:)

He took it all in:) And didn't even mind the snow falling in his face OR being set down into the snow!!!
In fact, even though he looks a little grumpy (from his ONLY 20 minute nap!!), he actually fussed MORE getting him into his 4 layers to go outside;) And he fussed to go back OUT when we headed back inside!
The older ones LOVED the snow;) We need some better snow gear... especially better boots & gloves!! But I'm going to start looking for snow suits as well so the kids don't have to wear 4 pants!!!!!


After all that great Sunday snow fun, we all crashed and woke to sickness on Monday!!!

I started feeling sick first, and then Lydia joined me on the couch with a bucket... yuck!! I wasn't sick long, but it wiped out my energy completely... to the point that once I heard Nate crying and just didn't have the energy to pick him up:(

Thank goodness Brian was able to take care of everyone and the house (it was soo clean at the end of the day!!). Needless to say, we didn't do much outside Monday... Brian did manage to shovel outside and make a grocery run!

Late Monday night Anna started with the virus.... and she (and Brian) were up most of the night!!

By Tuesday afternoon (and after a couple of meals in my belly) I was ready to get back outside for some snow fun:) I was soo glad that Lydia was feeling well enough to go with me and Chris joined me later;) And we got to build some friends;)

Obviously I'm NOT a snow artist... even with Chris' help!!


I surprised Chris with this one (he added the chalk when we were decorating the snowman)...
Chris came out of the house to see my "dinosaur". He was soo excited and asked,"MOMMY! Did you make that Stegosaurus for me??"

Oh, such a sweet question! Of course I quickly told him I did and asked if he liked it:)

So thankful that we got to play in the snow for a few more minutes together (even had a snowball fight with Brian... I need to work on my aim!!!)

And that it seems we are all on the mend:) And hope to see Grandma and Grandaddy soon:)

Our Halloween 2010

We're not HUGE Halloween celebrators....

We really enjoy our church's Harvest Festival on Saturday night.... always a great time with church members and meeting new members from the community;)

We (or maybe it's just me! LOL!!) enjoy carving pumpkins!! Scooping all the seeds out, baking the seeds and then carving pictures and faces into our pumpkins (this year the 1st night we'll display them is actually on the 31st... I usually like it done a little earlier... ).



But we're not big on dressing up.... in fact, this year only 50% of us dressed up:) LOL!!

Anna wore a snow White dress from Little Dress Up shop


Brian wore a shirt he picked up off a clearance rack for $1!

And Nate was the cutest little Skeleton:)



That was all Friday and Saturday.... SUnday was a whole new day!!

We spent the morning at church, enjoying our church family and participating in our various classes/studies;) Except we had a surprise visit from the leader of the VBS crew that came down for VBS... so nice to see them!

Then we had a quick lunch and everyone napped (hmmm, everyone but Nate and I, he's in an awful nap schedule... grrrr... waiting for him to go to 2 predicable naps a day!)

During the late afternoon, we had a "stick incident" outside which resulted in Lydia getting hurt! After an EMT friend came over we decided to drive to our peditrician's after-hours clinic!

After an hour appt, Brian and Lydia emerged smiling (with candy!!). She didn't need stitches (although, not sure if they could have even done stitches how close to her eye the injury was)! In fact, the cuts had already started healing... our bodies are amazing!

And the best news was that they checked her eye for scratched on her cornea and didn't have any! She is just a VERY lucky girl and is very fortunate to have people praying daily for her! We were soo thankful!

Got pics on the way home!


Trying to be "happy".


We rounded out the evening sitting on the side of the road...

no, it wasn't us!! Thank goodness!

But we passed a car stopped in the middle of our lane. After passing them, Brian turned around to help.... it was a young mom traveling with a 2 month old. And her car was totally broken down and she was at least a couple of hours from home!!

We spent a good amount of time there... Brian checking her car and us waiting for some local friends to pick her up.


I hate to even mention this....

but my kids did complain about having to sit in the car and wait. And while we were hungry, it was LATE so we were all tired and having to use the potty (LOL!!) It was a great opportunity to remind them about the Good Samaritan- who was ready to help and go beyond the initial help to be sure the one needing help was ok!!

And I was soo glad Brian decided to turn back when it would have been soo much easier to drive by and care for his own family!! he kept saying that he would have wanted someone to show us the same kindness, if I was ever stranded on the side of the road!

So we've had some FULL days this weekend!! Ready for a QUIET week to recover and for Lydia to heal!!

Update on Nate & Sleepy Wrap

Sorry about the delay in sharing about Nate's follow-up appt!

The doctor immediately knew he had to "re-do" the silver nitrate procedure because he said it "looked like he hadn't done anything the first time".

So he applied some more silver nitrate into Nate's belly button. The doctor said that the granuloma was at the very bottom of his button, so he really had to push down inside..... let's just say Nate wasn't happy!!!

I asked about how to care for the button now and was told to "leave it alone for a couple of days" and to go back to giving him sponge baths so his belly stays dry!

So I haven't tried to clean it yet! It's crunchy again, but maybe that is the final drainage. I'm thinking it migh be better to let it "heal" some more before I start messing with it...

so that's where we are. The good news is that the doctor doesn't think his belly button is soo deep it goes into his bladder which was the doctor's biggest concern.

Onto something else....

With Nate's big blowout on Sunday PM, he got his Sleepy Wrap dirty and I've been soo misssing it!! I was soo glad to have it finish drying yesterday!

Here is Nate when he was days old:)


He still loves it at almost 6 weeks old... it has "magical powers" over him... LOL!! When he fussy or fighting sleep, it works wonders for us;)

But these are two reasons I love it.....
Rubbing noses;)


The super cute view!

5 Weeks & umbilical granuloma

On Friday we took Nate to his one month check-up!

The main concerns I had was his baby acne and the constant rash on his bottom....

Since the acne is the most obvious, the doctor started with that concern. Brian had called into the office last MOnday afternoon about the acne. He was told by the phone nurse that it "wasn't infant acne" and that we should be treating it with Lowila "soap" and hydro-coritzone lotion....

I was totally uncomfortable putting the hydro-cortizone on Nate's face... he's a baby who LOVES his hands near his face, or his hands in his mouth or rubbing his eyes... so to have the lotion THAT close to his face was disturbing to me... not to mention that it's a strong, adult treatment on a little ones face. But my good husband, wanting to be a good daddy and following nurses orders put the hydro-cortizone on Nate's face. By Thursday, I had also put the lotion on once or twice....

So the doctor asked if I had been doing anything for the acne.... and I told him about the Lowila "soap" and cortizone that the phone nurse told us to use. Our doctor couldn't BELIEVE we had put it on Nate's face! And he was VERY surprised that the nurses had given us that advice... Needless to say, the acne hasn't had any lotion on it since!!!

AS the doctor examined Nate, he saw Nate's belly button. It has had "crunchy" stuff on it since the stump fell off. I regularly have been cleaning it with the alcohol and since it didn't show signs of infection I hadn't thought much of it.....

Well, Nate has something called umbilical granuloma. From what I understand, it didn't heal right and has a "growth" that was under the cord that is "leaking". So the "crunchy" stuff I have been cleaning was from this "growth". The doctor treated it as best as he could with silver nitrate and said that it shouldn't be wet or "leaking" after the procedure. But he seemed a little apprehensive since he said that Nate's belly button was really "deep".

A few hours after the procedure when I changed Nate's diaper, the spot was still leaking. So I called back into the office and they scheduled an appt for Nate on Monday morning to be seen again.

***The problem isn't huge or life threatening, but when there is a health or any problem with your kids, especially when they are soo small, it's tough on parents. Brian and I have watched and cleaned Nate's belly looking for improvements all weekend... one spot is drying out;) but his belly button still is leaking... so back to the doctor we go.

One humorous thing about the appt was that I was concerned about the rash on his bottom, so I left Nate's diaper open for the doctor to see it.... but the doctor was concerned about his belly button and didn't notice.....

Nate peed everywhere!!! LOL!! Even got the doctor!!! The floor was soo soaked, I eventually put towels on the floor so I wouldn't slip!!

OK..... onto the fun stuff:)

Nate weighs 12 lbs which is 95% for little boys

Nate is 23 inches which is also 95%

• His favorite thing to do is watch our faces while being held... he will just watch us soo intently!!


• He also loves his tummy time but has started to enjoy the little toys dangling from the playmat, swing and bouncey seat.


• He's been better at night. He'll wake to eat and load a diaper, but he goes back to sleep pretty easily... of course he IS snuggled in bed with Mommy and Daddy!!


• Nate's day usually starts at 9am!! He'll nurse in the earlier hours but always gives us a few smiles and then falls right back asleep.... perfect time for showering, breakfast, etc!


• The Sleepy Wrap still has magical powers over him... he'll fall asleep in minutes when he is in it... Mommy has learned to do a lot of housework with Nate asleep in the Sleepy Wrap:)


• And Sunday night he gave us his first HUGE blowout... YUCK! Definitely benefit of living right next to the church since it required a bath for Nate and some how Mommy's new white shirt missed the mess completely:) YAY!!


• He still seems to be a pretty content kid. As long as he's held, fed, clean and feels "safe" he's good. He loves to smile and the kids (and parents) LOVE to see him smile too:)

Last Trip of FOUR

Since Saturday we have been "housebound" with Christopher possibly dealing with a stomach virus. As we hope that he recovers and prayed that the rest of us didn't come down with it too....

I've watched some of our final days of traveling from the house disappear.... it's just amazing that in just 2 weeks, in order to follow the midwives suggestion, I will have to stick closer to home.

So when we started to feel better and his symptons had been gone for over 24 hours, the kids and I packed our bags!

My parents live close enough that we can make visiting them a day trip or overnight trip. So on Tuesday we finished our basic schoolwork, packed, make lunch and headed out!!

On the way we realized that it ould be our last trip to see Grammie and Pey as FOUR.... next time (after I've recovered and we've adjusted to our "new" family) we'll have Brian and Nate !!

By request our first stop (after picking up Grammie) was Rita's!! My kids LOVE Ritas and its one of the only food-allergy friendly treat places we know!! Sooo glad it's the spring and they are now open near Grammie!

We let the kids pick out their own flavors and we all enjoyed our treat... hmm, sounds good right now actually...LOL!!


Then we spent time together outside at Grammies, helping with some dandelion collecting (LOL!!) and then the neighborhood park. Grammie actually took the kids and I was able to start working on a ministry opportunity for our church (can't wait to share)!! And I also got to visit my sister at work and she shared her talent with me, once again.... so awesome!

Wednesday we headed to the zoo!!! I"m not sure my kids will ever get tired of the zoo and learning new things about animals. I was just soo glad to get some walking and visiting in.

After lunch we headed home..... wish the trip ended uneventful.... but it didn't....

This "thing" that is plaguing Chris returned on the way home. He got sick after drinking apple juice???? I mean he had eaten 4-5 normal meals and then he throws up juice.... just glad I had a bucket ready (just in case) and that he made a great patient as I drove!!

So glad we got to go... because we'll stick around the house and keep to ourselves until he completely recovers, which looks promising as we put to bed a hyper little boy. And we hoping to sneak in another quick trip with Brian before this Momma is "1 hour radius"-bound :)

The Crud & Popsicle Weather

I've been dealing with the "crud" this week... at least that's what we call an achy lingering cold. The whole family has had cold symptoms this week, but the kids bounce back soo quickly:)

The girls had runny noses. Chris had the symptoms... tired, not hungry,etc! But he ate two FULL meals today, so he's back to normal:) Brian and I are still dealing with it... and ready for relief or a nap!!

So I haven't accomplished any amazing feats this week...LOL.. when do I ever...

But this afternoon was too beautiful to stay inside!! We rode bikes, jumped on the trampoline, did some swinging and ate popsicles!




Despite "the crud" we'll be outside enjoying our beautiful popsicle weather!

A Not so Silent Night

The kids have been dealing with the sniffles for a couple of days now. And at one time they have each have had a slight fever...

What a difference though compared to our Christmas last year. I think Christopher was the one who started to get sick first, but we all eventually came down with the stomach virus (Brian and I had it while visiting family). I'll take a cold over the stomach virus any day!!

But last night was ANYTHING but silent! Just between 10 and 12 Christopher and Lydia had us in their rooms over 10 times!! Finally we gave them so medicine and got them back to sleep. As I crawled into bed at midnight I could hear Christopher's raspy breathing because of his congestion. And Lydia was still rolling around, not being able to get comfortable.

We woke tp Lydia's fussing at 6:40am and pulled her into bed with us. Not soon after laying back down we heard Anna coughing... poor little things!!

So far everyone is going strong this morning (except Momma... I'm tired....LOL)! We do have a couple of runny noses.... but better than carrying around buckets...

Sick Night turned into Game Night

All three kids have had cough/cold symptoms today. Lydia finally had to sleep with us last night because we weren't getting ANY sleep standing over her bed:) So when we talked about attending church this evening, we decided to keep the kids home... I'd hate to get any of the older people in our church sick!!

So we stayed home and tore into the new games Chris got from Aunt Jac and Uncle Carson!! First we tried was CandyLand... they did well, although I had to remind Chris many times to keep his little gingerbread man ON the gameboard and to only take the TOP card off of the pile!! But we "survived" one game:) Here are some of our CandyLand pics....

We also played HiHo Cheerio (another game from Aunt Jac)!! The kids really liked that one. It was a little easier for Chris to handle and the game went more quickly, better for a little guy with a SHORT attention span!!

I had fun with the kids!! Since I already had the kitchen tidy, I was able to just sit and PLAY with them:) It was a nice change of pace than me trying to get stuff done around them or rushing them around to complete chores.... maybe this is a good time to instill a GAME NIGHT!!??? Well see.... sounds like FUN to me:)

And if you are interested??? This is how Lydia entertained herself while we played. First she "chewed" on the extra playing piece. Then she rode/dragged the wooden horse around the house (no pic). Finally she decided to dress herself at 8pm!!

She fussed when I tried to remove her shoes at bedtime... I picked my battled and decided that THIS wasn't a big deal and I'd sneak in later to removed them:) But Daddy found the shoes first... LOL... I wonder what went through his mind as he took off his little girls shoes (put on the wrong feet) as she was sleeping???

The end in Sight & Just Miserable!!!

It started off like a normal morning, minus Christopher's coughing and ruinny nose. The family had our quick advent devotion and got to work on chores and "school work". Anna and I had a wonderful revelation that if she did 4 lessons a week (about normal right now), we'll be DONE her "reading book" by Christmas!! So awesome... the end is in sight!! But now I'll have to chat with the seasoned homeschoolers about what is next?? hah haa

About 11:15, Christopher started to say he was cold. He grabbed his "night-night" and climbed on the couch under the BIG, soft green blanket!! He barely touched his lunch and then slept for 3+ hours!!!

He woke from his nap and sat back on the couch watching a video! After a couple moments he asked, "MOmmy, I'm not feeling well. Can you gte my night-night please?" I started walking to his room and he called after me, "And my pillow? And my bear?"



Poor little guy is soo miserable. He's got a nasty cough. Runny nose. No energy or desire to use energy. Congestion that's making him breathe out of his mouth. A tummy ache (at least that is what he is telling me). And every few moments he rolls over and fusses:(

Between the throwing up last week and this cold thing... he's had a rough first week of being Three!!

A Smile for a Sick Day

I haven't been feeling well the last few days.... We were hoping to head to the zoo today... ohhhh, what a beautiful zoo day we missed!! I just felt rotten enough that I really won't have enjoyed the drive or walking around all morning and afternoon:) So maybe another time when my head doesn't feel like it's about to burst and my nose isn't dripping like a fountain.....

I was looking through more wedding pictures and ran into this sweet video! I'm pretty sure I haven't posted it yet. We were all waiting for the the last few guests to arrive and the wedding to start. Brian and Lydia were standing on the porch getting the wiggles out before "quiet time" (AKA wedding ceremony)!!



In the background you can hear the ladies trying to convince the ringbearers to hold the little pillow:) Christopher just didn't want to and David wanted to play with his digger (a gift the bride and groom gave him)!!! We had two different languages within the wedding, so they're speaking to David in Spanish and English and Christopher in English... The little boys never did make it all the way down the aisle.

I've also added some more wedding pictures to my flickr account.... HERE!!

BTW... isn't my sweet hubby so handsome in a tux:)

Horse Baby & School Time

Lydia voice being crackly and deep started the last day at Grandma and Grandaddy's and has gotten a lot more noticable. At first we thought it was because she was talking more due to NOT having her paci all the time! But now I'm starting to wonder if all the wet weather or exposure to sickness somewhere has caused her horseness??? We'll be keeping an eye on it... for sure!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This is also a glimpse into a "normal" "homeschool preschool time"..... in some ways it's not normal b/c I'm holding a camera and not working one-on-one... but the different activities of the kids and the noise is about normal. You can't see Anna and Christopher but Anna was working on her math workbook and Chris was cutting up his writing and drawing work this morning (at least I can't feel guity about throwing it away when it's in tiny pieces and he's working on scissor use which is a very good hand-eye coordinate and fine motor skill)!!!

Paci-less & Another Scare

We survived the night without the paci. Lydia was exhausted and she feel right asleep. The car ride to Grandma and Grandaddy's was a little tedious without paci, but Lydia napped a little, snacked a little, played with Daddy a little, fussed some and then we were there... not too bad.

Here at Grandma and Grandaddy's, Lydia sleeps in the closet:) I think she'd do better to be near Anna since they're used to being together, but it works!! Anyway, for naps today Brian laid on the floor next to the pack-n-play and they fell asleep pretty quickly. This evening, I read silently laying next to her for 30+ minutes with minimal initial fussing.... so far so good with no paci

...we've been really blessed with paci weaning all three kids. Anyway I do have a paci here and a Walmart close by but I haven't even been tempted to use it yet. And she has her "night-night" blanket and a phone, so she's good:)

Christopher had another accidently reaction to milk this afternoon. Brian and i were out at the time which made it scarier for us... Imagine the call, "Chris ate something with milk in it, he's got a rash, his eyes are looking red and he's sneezing. Do you have any Benadryl?"

What made matters even worse was the call that he had thrown up, too! So we headed home to see what we could do... but he was asleep, breathing fine (little raspy b/c of the reaction) and rash going down! He slept from 5pm - almost 9pm.... he woke a had a snack and is acting normal and is going strong at 10:30PM hahahaa... he is sticking close to his "night-night" so I'm hoping he'll be heading to bed after the Clemson game when we'll be heading to bed:)

Well I'm getting off to get my camera ready for tomorrow... we've got another action packed day!! We have a little more shopping and preparations for the wedding on Saturday. Then tomorrow night we have the rehearsal and dinner:) How exciting...

Update on Anna

Well Anna went to bed feeling very hot and "hurting".... but we gave her the medicine and some water hoping that some good rest would help. We didn't hear a peep out of her all night:)

This morning while we were snuggling on the couch (watching the news with Daddy), she walked in and announced, "I feel better today!!" She's been acting totally back, but I'm thinking she should TRY to get a little extra rest today......

we'll see if THAT happens. Although she did inform me that her head hurt a little too much to do school today.... hahhahaa

I'm not sre what the bug was thta hit us. But it's only a 24-hr bug that includes pain, headaches and a high fever.... strange.... but I'll take that over a week long cold, or 24-hr nauseous bug!

Off to attempt school and order to our day..... wish me luck:)

Another Exciting Day... haa haa

We didn't actually have anything extra planned today.... just get some cleaning done, laundry and schooling.... hmmmmm??? Maybe today I am supposed to be learning that I can handle more than I want to... when I rely on Him, my faithful Lord.

So it started at about 3:30am when Anna came in saying she couldn't sleep and while tucking her in I felt she was burning up.... kind of like Christopher on Friday...gotta' love those "family" germs:)Needless to say she's been on the couch or in bed all morning... she tried to do some school but "hurt too much" to do anything... so we'll read later and push stuff back a day...

Lydia has been semi-potty training for a month now:) When we put her in diapers she either takes them off to pee-pee or pee-pees once in them and throws them away... so we've been going thorugh some diapers.... and she's demonstrating that she's ready to potty train. So this week I was going to focus more on potty training Lydia. More stick to my plan and not give in to diapers soo quickly (after soo many accidents).

But don't you know as soon as I started really focusing to Lydia pottying this morning, Little Man decided he wanted to join in the fun.... he liked getting the gummy bears (2- one for pottying, one for pottying with a happy heart)!! But then I had to remind him about pottying again and he was done :)

And just to add to the growing choas, I had my sweet husband bring down all the little boy clothes so I could finally get them sorted and put away in plastic bins instead of the cardboard.... which I've been meaning to do for over a year now....

Hahhaa.... girls' stuff is next... they grow like weeds:)But it had been nice to have everything soo organzied with the girls stuff, so when I need a certian size or season for Lydia... it's right there in the labeled bin:)

A Busy House

Our goals today were to RELAX, take care of sick tummies and get laundry and clothes done and put away:) Believe me.... that would have been ENOUGH to do in one day!!!

But last night I started laundry (while I missed church). And it truly was "divine timing". This morning we woke to a water leak....we had a "puddle" there for awhile now and we thought it was just b/c of leaving our outside line on....but it was something else.... and who knows how long it's been leaking like this!!!!

This morning I finished washing my LAST load and then we noticed the leak and now the water is cut OFF!!! So I just have drying, sorting, folding and putting away.... and three church members and my husband outside deciding what to do with our water leak......

The tummies seemed to have calmed down....we'll see???

I thought we were done....

The kids (and adults) slept like logs. It was a very, very quiet night so i figured the virus had run it's quick course through the kiddies. And we had a very busy Sunday.... we all attended SS and I had the kids in nursery, we ate lunch, ran into a big town to take advantage of the tax-free weekend and then headed home for PM service.

We were in a bit of a hurry because Brian needed to do a little setting up for service. The Missions Team was going to do their presentations:) Sharing with the church is one of my FAVORITE parts of the missions trip because the missions teams' hearts are always so full and ready to be shared. And because those who so diligently prayed for the team are given the opportunity to share in the "experience". So Brian was preparing the media needed to show the slideshow:)

Anyway, only 5 minutes from Lydia starts fussing, and just looked soo uncomfortable.... only one thing....she's going to be sick!!! Sure enough the little girl was sick..... we get her home, bathe her and she acted fine.... so being the CRAZY woman that I am I start packing the kids for church:) Then 2 minutes before we're supposed to be walking out of the door she starts fussing again...... poor little thing!!!

Yes, so I'm at home with the two little ones....Christopher would have been too much to keep track of and run the service!!! And they are just content, happy and playful..... you'd never know how empty Lydia's little tummy really is......

Let's just HOPE we get this out of our house by Wednesday, when we have planned to see Pey!!

Our Journey Home

Well I'm exhausted.... imagine that :)

We left Canada on Thursday AM, and were in the car for over 13 hours to get to our destination.... see Kelly's father's family....including my uncles, aunt, cousin, Pop-pop and BROTHER.....and some sweet friends:)

After a day of visiting (Fri), we headed to my mom's family reunion. I hadn't seen many of my mother's family in YEARS...like when Anna was 2 months old.... so it was a treat...and some are even SeeTheFam blog-readers :)

And then we traveled home and arrived at 8:15pm.... just in time for dinner:) H ah haaa. We unpacked, ate dinner, bathed the kiddies, tidyed the house (some) and are heading to bed ourselves....just exhausted....

The kids did really well traveling...but we did run into some "excitement"....somewhere in our journey the kids picked up another stomach bug. So Christopher had stomach cramps for a couple of days, Lydia has had a bout of diarrhea and then last night Anna was throwing up with diarrhea..... BTW she was a lovely person to be sharing the bed with last night:) About 10 minutes from my aunt's house this afternoon, Lydia threw up all over herself and the car seat....so our plans changed a bit and we cleaned her up at my mother's hotel room (an early check -in saved the day). And during lunch in Grammie's hotel room, Lydia actually received 2 baths.... and she threw up at my aunt's house...in the garden :)

But we're safe, somewhat healthy and HOME!!! It was a good trip...I don't think any of my pics of family and friends we're inspiring, but some were fun, so I'll try to post them tomorrow:)

One of my greatest encourager friends asked if I would consider taking my kids on a missions trip again, soon? My honest answer to her was, " Let me have a few days to recover and reflect on this one and then I can answer."

And let me credit the fact that we even looked "put together" to Brian and my mom....I know I wouldn't have even tried to pull this off without them and their support. Brian wanted me to come and my mother desperately wanted to give me the chance to participate with the team in every activity.....

THANK YOU GUYS!!

Ok, pics tomorrow...I need to REST :)

An Encouraging Brother

Well we're still recovering..... I've been wanting to visit my mom this week.... and it would be a GREAT week to visit with the HEAT WAVE and that she has a pool:) BUt I'm not up for traveling (nor driving) and I'm not sure the kids would even feel well enough to swim or enjoy their time with Grammie.......

So we've been hanging out with each other..... swimming in the baby pool, swinging, watching movies with the tents set-up in the living room, reading books and Daddy encouraged us to go for some exercise this evening:)

I can tell little Christopher isn't feeling well.... his energy level is way down! He's a little more snuggly and not as loud and busy. But his sensitive side has been showing:)

1. Lydia was the last to wake from her nap this afternoon. Christopher was the first to hear her and get into her room. Instead of just talking to her and leaving (having her yelling for someone else to get her), he gave her some cars to play with. I walked in a few minutes after expecting her to be yelling since Christopher had left her room..... but she wasn't. She was quietly playing with the cars that he'd had given her:)

2. Anna was practicing counting by 10's. Anyway, she was doing a good job and ended with 100 very confidently. I quickly praised her and then Christopher said," Yay, Anna. Give me a high five!!!" And then they started giving high fives to each other, even Lydia got involved:) Too Sweet!!!