Sick Sick Sick

We have suffered through quite a bit of sickness in our home over the past six/eight weeks. Well....suffered....that's harsh, I suppose.

Suffering is dirt floors, starving bellies, tin roofs; malaria or AIDS.

One at a time, each taking their turn, the boys and Lola went down. Just when we thought we were done, it came back around and started all over, taking them one by one yet again.  And then, a third time; this one, a completely different bug with new symptoms.  Thankfully, puke wasn't one of them that round. And then again....last night....Lola. A. GAIN.

In truth, I've been given a gift with the sickness.  It was hidden, and I had to dig a bit for it, but boy, I sure did enjoy it once it was found.

As the mother of sick children, I was given the gift of stopping without guilt.

I don't know about others, but I have a difficult time slowing down. My life is busy, what with (how many children do I have? Whoa) and a entrepreneurial, hard working husband who works sometimes many, many  hours so that we can enjoy many of life's wonderful pleasures. Not the least of which is the opportunity that he has given me to stay home with all of my babies from the time they were born until that dreaded day in August--when I have cried as I watched them leave me for the excitement of Kindergarten.

I enjoy staying home. I am happiest in my kitchen.  I fancy myself a decent (alright, pretty good), organized housekeeper and a fairly good cook. There is constantly something to be done to keep my family (and all that comes along with them) running smoothly. I don't need to list; you all know what those things are, and I'm sure between all of us, we could be here all day naming the things that keep us working from sun up till sun down (and most days, well beyond those hours).

There is so much to do that often, I feel guilty just enjoying my precious daughter during the day. Sitting means the other stuff isn't getting done.

Playing beauty shop. Doing nails. Watching Tinkerbell or Tangled or Veggie Tales. Playing Uno or Blink or dollhouse or "hold me like a baby" or dress up with the baby dolls. Reading.

That list could go on and on as well.

But being sick, especially when it hit me, has forced my hand. I had to stop. I had to be still, because it just hurt too bad to move too much!

And I found it was wonderful.

We did all of those things, and more. We laughed. We discovered some new things. We just enjoyed each other. And I said the words, "The house is kind of a wreck" to Shane as he came home from work more times than I probably have in the last year combined. He didn't seem to mind. He's awesome like that.

(Truth is, he has seen the value in my "being still" for some time and has been gently, patiently trying to work me toward it. Told you. Awesome.)

I've decided it was high time that I make more of an effort to live this way--even when my body (or theirs) isn't necessarily forcing me.

So, I've made my confession. I've said it before and I know I will say it again: I'm not a perfect mom.  How about you--do you struggle with this, and if so, how do you find your balance?

 

A new truck for Daddy

Last month, we did something very, very special.

We drove over to Indiana to pick up a brand new (to him) truck for Daddy!!

Shane has been looking for a while to replace his truck. If you have seen it, you would know why! We are very, very thankful that his truck has been so faithful for so long, but we decided it was time to upgrade to something that could fit the whole family.  Last month, we loaded up the family and headed over to pick up one we found that was perfect!

The kids immediately ditched me decided they wanted to ride home with Daddy. 

There was room for them plus extra to spare!

Proud Daddy and kiddos!

We took a trip to the Lego store and then had some lunch at the Olive Garden. 

The kids love that place (it is a rare treat) an are always very well behaved.

It was a super fun day with the family.

So excited for you and your new ride, babe! :)

Mother's Day

This year was a very special Mother's Day for me.

I woke up to Colin's "card"--letters that he individually drew 

and cut out himself, then displayed on our dining room table *grin*

And Cameron's card that he made me in school. He also gave me a flower that they planted in class!

(Have I said how much I love his teacher?)

It read, "I love you because you love me." I'll take it. :)

After a wonderful morning spent with my church friends and family, Shane took our family and my mom out to eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant.  It was truly lovely not having to cook or clean up.  I love love love going out to eat.

Reasons #1-5 why I am the most blessed mother alive:

#1

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

And at the left end, number 5!

God has blessed me with a wonderful mother and the opportunity to be a mother to four amazing little people. All else aside--what could make Mother's Day any better than that?

Lola's eye surgery

Today was a grueling day.  It was the day of Lola's surgery to have the cyst over her eye removed.  She has had the cyst since birth, and we have just been waiting on her to get a little bigger before we attempted a surgery--the risks decrease significantly after two years old.

So, after our little setback three weeks ago....today was the big day!

It was up at 5:30 to be on the road by 6. Lola's surgicenter was about 45 minutes away, and we had to be there by 6:45.  We had told her several times that we were taking her to the doctor and they were going to make her bump go away.

Daddy carrying her in....

....she was such a happy camper.

Snuggling with Daddy in the lobby while Mommy filled out some last minute paperwork

They took us back to our own room to do some pre-op stuff.

Lo was still a happy clam.

Checking out the blood pressure cuff....

....and showing Daddy the pulse oximeter.

Then for a moment...when the nurse bent down to check her...it was like she had 

a sense of what was coming and all of sudden became very serious.

The nurse couldn't get a good read through Lo's pj's, so we had to take them halfway off.

(Showing Daddy where the cuff was)

Then it was off to the bathroom to go potty one more time and 

put on the teeniest little gown (and slipper socks) I have ever seen!

Still so happy....she is just the best baby.

She did great up to this point. Our friends (our pastor/his wife) came to the surgicenter 

and spent the morning with us. They prayed with all of us, and then it was time for me to 

hand Lo over to the team. It was seemingly going well--and then Lo's face started to 

crumple and she lost it. The nurse carried her away to the OR, with both of us crying.

We expected to hear something after about 45 minutes...but after an hour an a half of waiting, I was starting to get nervous. Just as I was getting up to check on her, the surgeon came back and signaled that everything was all done.  He started to take us to her, but stopped so he could talk to us first--and he warned us before we saw her that it was worse than what he had thought.

Lo's cyst was much bigger and deeper than he thought it was going to be.  He had to cut through the muscle in her eye (the one that makes your eyes open and close) in order to get to the entire thing--only to find out that it had also adhered to the actual bone.  The procedure had to be done differently than planned, so that was why it took so much longer.  But in the end, she was okay--and that was all we cared about!

She looked beat up though. Poor Shane and I were not really prepared for how swollen and black and blue she was going to be. That part was really, really hard to see.

They kept reassuring us that most of her screaming was not from pain, but from the effects of the anesthesia.  I was trying to get a better look at the eye/bandage without making her mad, but it wasn't exactly working.  I quickly abandoned this and just went back to holding her and trying to calm her down, but even that wasn't seeming to make her feel any better. I felt....awful, at best.

 She cried like neither of us had ever heard before, and continued to cry once we left and got in the car.

She was very afraid, you could tell. She would absolutely not let go of my hand. Even when I thought she was asleep and removed it, she woke right up screaming until she got a hold of my hand again! 

I learned my lesson and just left it there while she napped. :)

 Got a picture of her looking actually peaceful while she slept.

And all moms breathed a sigh of relief. Whew.

When she woke up, she was so much better....literally seemed like a different child.

She even tried to smile for me!

It is the end of the day, and she is all cleaned up now. Her eye is still swollen shut (and is likely to be for a while) but she is in much better spirits. We actually took a long bike ride (she loved that) and a small walk. She loved swinging in her swing, too--but mostly, I have just held her today.

I'm okay with that. :)

I can't tell you how much I have appreciated all of the calls, texts, emails, and Facebook messages of friends and family letting me know that they are praying for little Lolee girl. We felt them today and she is doing as well as can be expected! I would appreciate it if you would keep her in your prayers, and I will keep everyone updated!

This week, I want to remember (1/23-1/27)

Monday, January 23

• It's Lola's birthday!
• We didn't do a whole lot, because Lolee girl wasn't feeling well. She cried a good portion of the day saying, "I hold you Mommy! I hoooooold you!" So, I would pick her up, snuggle her, and carry her around with me doing whatever needed to be done. At rest time, she even let me rock her to sleep--which is a real rarity these days! I was glad God gave me another day to pretend she was a little baby again--she really is transforming in front of my very eyes into a beautiful, independent little girl.

I couldn't get a smile out of her....

 So....I enlisted an ally.

The bond between these two....

....is absolutely precious.

• Cameron came home from school, telling me all about his day.  "Mom, we played Star Wars! I was Dark Vader (sic), Waylon was Luke Skywalker, and Ty was Princess Leia." (I got a big laugh out of that one!)
• Colin and I played Scrabble after dinner. He's pretty good for an eight year old!
• Cameron read his first complete book while I was making dinner (like, a real one with more than one word on the page) and we were all pretty excited for him! Now that he made it all the way through, he just wants to read "one more" all the time! Yay for readers.

That night, Grandma Jane came over to give Lola Belle her presents--a couple 

of very neat Leap Frog toys.  A little house that does and says tons of things....

(We agreed that the angels on the wrapping paper looked like Lo!)

And she got a toy that looks a lot like my new toy, a Kindle Fire! 

She and her nappy hair love it.  She calls it "Tinnel!"

Tuesday, January 24

• Thought of the day: playdates are good for children. But even better for Mommies!
• Lola woke up still sore, but feeling much better! Her mood was improved greatly, which made the day much more delightful.
• We stopped for lunch and when I asked Ethan how his steakburger was, he proclaimed: "It's FRESH!"
• After baths, the boys did this for about 20 minutes:

• We watched a bit more of Star Wars (the original movies--Daddy got them on Blu Ray for Christmas!) before the boys had to go to bed. They love, love Star Wars, which is great because so does their Daddy! It's so cute to see the four of them bond over yet another thing.

Wednesday, January 25

The day Ethan woke up (way too) early, was grouchy most of the morning, and then--after I noticed I hadn't heard him for a few minutes--I checked on him around 10:30 in his room and found this:

The days my boys said these things:

Cameron, getting dressed for school, comes to me in his underwear, distressed:

"Mommy, these undies are NOT right! Something is just very wrong."

Me: "Cameron....those are Ethan's undies."

Cameron: "Whew! Mine have much more room in the legs."

Ethan, during learning time: "I'm going to color the water blue." (chooses a violet crayon) 

Me: "Are you going to color it blue, Ethan, or purple?" 

E:  "Blue." (reaches again for the violet.) 

Me, holding out the two crayons: "Ethan, which one is blue and which one is purple?" 

Ethan, studying them for a moment: "Eeeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo...."

Colin, after school: "Mommy, we've had snow, then sleet, then rain today!"

Me: "Yep. And it looks like it is starting to sleet again."

Colin: "We're having three kinds of pah-sip-ah-tations."

The day Lola wore pigtails--real ones, near her ears instead of at the top of her head--for the first time! 

I didn't get any close up shots of her, but you can kind of see them in this
shot of the kids playing Legos after school:

 

Thursday, January 26th

Ethan poured the milk on his cereal. All. By. Himself. (It was a big deal!)

 Ethan also helped me bake banana nut muffins.  Then, he helped clean up! 

This child washed ALL the big dishes (you know, the ones that don't go into the dishwasher)

 by himself, and did a great job getting them clean.

As soon as Lola heard the word help, she was up--and on me like white on rice.

  The dishwasher door opened and bam, she was on it, saying, "I help. I help."

Then, she started saying something even cuter--"Here Mommy. Help you."

After school, the boys came home and we played more Legos.  I got up to check where Cameron was (and go to the bathroom) when I found him in there. And immediately, my nose told me he had just done some bid-ness, if ya know what I'm sayin.
Me: "Shoo, Cam. You kinda stunk the bathroom up a bit, bud."
Cameron: "You know what else I did, Mom? Warmed up the toilet seat for ya."

Friday, January 27

Ethan, Lola and I spent this day getting ready for Ethan's 5th birthday party! In the morning, we cleaned up the house.

Just after I finished vacuuming everything, I found this:

Lola had found the salt. And opened it. And dumped it. A lot of it. 

And these two pictures were two of about 12 I could have taken. 

She left a nice trail from my office floor (above) to the kitchen (below).

Sigh. So everything got double vacuumed. Extra clean, I say! 

We did lots of errands--a trip to CVS, a trip to the grocery and the meat store, etc. When we got home, we had some supper and the baking began! Ethan requested cupcakes--chocolate, of course! (He is his mother's son!) So Lola helped me bake.

Anytime the mixer (or any small appliance in my kitchen) starts to whir, 

she comes flying over and says, "I see! I see!"

After the cupcakes were in the oven, it was time to make some pizza dough. 

Homemade pizza was the special request of the birthday boy!

Lola loves to watch the dough kneading through the window of the machine.

Then, much to my boys'--who had been literally pacing the floor for two hours waiting--delight, Grandma 'Nette and Grandpa showed up! It was immediately time for games. We were so thrilled to have them make the trip down for Ethan's party and spend the weekend with us.

Scrabble it was!

Ethan's birthday party was the next day--more on that later!