Another PJ Day

I know I'm selfish...I REALLY am ready for Carlee to start feeling better - as much for me as for her. I'm worn out, and know she is too. Her fever was back up last night. She coughed and coughed and coughed. One of those coughs that makes everyone in earshot hurt. She's taking an antibiotic, Motrin, cough medicine, and a breathing treatment - That's enough to make anyone crazy!

She finally went to sleep in her bed at about midnight last night. Then, at 2 was at my bedside asking me to get in bed with her. Normally, I wouldn't (Chris would, but I wouldn't!) But, I did. And, she moaned, coughed and kicked. Then, woke me up at 7ish begging for apple juice.

No fever this morning though. We're just in our PJ's watching Cinderella. Yesterday we never got out of our PJ's. Just changed into new ones after bath-time. My mom has graciously offered to watch her for a while today so that I can get out of the house by myself! I haven't left the house since last Monday except for our trip to the Dr. Thursday. I have to admit, for a person who normally goes every single day of the week, it's a little bit nice. But I'm ready for a little alone time.

Tis The Season

Sick Again
The daycare called at about 3:30 Thursday to tell me Carlee was coughing so much she wasn't able to sleep, BUT the main reason for the call was that she had been bitten again - this time on the shoulder. The director said she was mad, but OK. I hadn't told them I was at home sick because I figured they might spend the day checking her temperature.

My mom picked her up when she got off work. When they got home, she first told me who bit her (the daycare won't divulge...but Carlee sure will!) then she went straight to the couch and laid her head down - right before her eyes closed she said "I no want to take a rest"...and she was out. Not typical Carlee. I felt her back and she was burning up. Wouldn't you know, not a fever reducer in the house...so Chris ran to Wal-Mart, grabbed some Motrin. She woke up about an hour later, the fever was down and she was ready to go. Chris got her settled back down and asleep at her normal bedtime but she woke herself up coughing...So, I held her in the recliner for a couple of hours just so she could get some rest...and the fever came back. We did this all night. So, I took my last vacation day (it renews in February, so no big deal) and stayed home with her yesterday. Took her to the Dr. and she's got an ear infection and a sinus infection. So, 10 days of antibiotics 2 times a day...fun times! Carlee is not an antibiotic lover. Chris has magically gotten her to take it without a huge fight. She still had fever last night, but is much better today. She's enjoying being able to lay around watching cartoons I think. She slept until 10:00 this morning!! She had Chris up a majority of the night last night, but still...10:00.


Forgotten Birthday
With all the sickness that's been going on, I almost forgot Chris' birthday. It was Thursday. I called him half-way through the day to wish him a happy one! What a terrible wife I was that day! I had big plans to take him to dinner, but that didn't happen - so he and my mom had take-out bar-b-q...He was so gracious - that's his character. If it were me, I would probably still be pouting. I like to feel special on my birthday. My mom did tie a pink and a yellow balloon to the light in the kitchen. I promised him that next weekend we would go out and he was fine with that. Not just saying he was fine - he really was (I would say I was fine, but inside would really be mad!) I sure did marry a good man.

Christmas Ramblings

What a wonderful Christmas!
We got to spend a few days in Harrison with Chris' family, then drive back to spend some time with mine. Carlee doesn't get the concept of Santa Clause, but she sure does like to open presents! Her Nana (Chris' mom) got her a HUGE princess tent and she was speechless...she jumped up and down with her hands over her mouth when her daddy set it up. By the end of the night she had me, her daddy, her uncle Jason and her Nana and Papa inside. We don't have any place to put it now, so it will be a big new surprise when we move into our new house...perfect for her play room.

The blucks
Christmas night I started feeling a little yucky...and by bedtime I was full blown sick. Yesterday morning I tried a couple of bites of a cracker and couldn't keep it down...and so, the vacation day I took yesterday was spent going back and forth from my bed to the bathroom. I felt much better when I woke up this morning...just a headache, hurting back and completely worn out. So, I decided to stay home today and try to recuperate. Not the way I wanted to spend my next-to-the-last vacation day! Now, we just pray that Carlee doesn't get it. I'm trying to do a little disinfecting in between resting today.

The Baby
I'm starting to feel some little kicks - they are very faint, and if I didn't remember what Carlee felt like, I probably wouldn't know. I've been feeling them for about 2 weeks now, but they're starting to get a little stronger. Very cool. We're almost at the 20 week mark - I'll be 19 weeks this weekend. We get to find out the sex on January 9th!! Thanks to my brother-in-law's prodding, I got to have a big debate with my grandma on Christmas day about whether I should find out...she gets all worked up about it and thinks that it's ridiculous to find out...because for "thousands of years" women didn't know what they were having and made it just fine. True. But, they didn't have the ability to find out back then, and I do, so I'm going to. And, I can't wait!
And, I think we've decided on a boy name...Eli Christopher.
I'm having problems coming up with a girl name...Taylor is what I'm thinking right now, but we're not set on it.

Fear

Last night I went to bed fairly early...thinking it would be a nice, calm night. I watched a little TV while Chris put Carlee to bed. I waited and waited on him to come to bed, but it became clear that he had fallen asleep in Carlees bed. So, I turned off the TV...and the excitement began. First what I heard was a little tapping noise - then it got a little louder and a little louder. At first I thought it was Chris or Carlee tapping on the wall. So I sat up, turned the TV back on for some light and listened...there was OBVIOUSLY something in the room with me - and it wasn't Chris. I made a leap out of the bed and out the door to Carlee's room to wake Chris up. After beating on his leg a few times, he came to life. I firmly requested that he figure out what was making the noise. First he said it was the clock in the bathroom...GUARANTEED, it wasn't the clock in the bathroom. So, I strongly suggested again that he go in the room and investigate, while I climed in bed with Carlee. His conclusion was that there was something in the wall. SOMETHING IN THE WALL? How can you sleep with something in the wall. What exactly is that "something"? He climed in bed and turned the light off...leaving me sitting in Carlee's room trying to figure out if the "something in the wall" was going to get out of the wall and climb on me while I was sleeping. So, I stayed with Carlee until she started kicking me...then said a little prayer about nothing crawling on me in the night and got in my bed.

So, we determined that the "something in the wall" is a mouse. I told my mom tonight that there's not enough room in this house for me and a mouse. One of is going to have to go. And, I'm the one who cooks supper every night, so it seems like I should get to stay.

my little wheezer

Carlee has had bad troubles with asthma this week. Wed night she started coughing and wheezing - it came on really quick. So, I stayed in the bed with her. It makes me so nervous. Thursday I took her to work with me, hoping I could get her in to see her dr. early...She was suposed to get her flu shot Thursday, so I think this may have been her way of getting out of it!

I couldn't get her in until 1:45, and by the time we got there, she was in distress. You can't tell unless you look at her little belly...it was working overtime. She doesn't wheeze really loud like a lot of people with asthma - which makes it a little more scary I think. Anyways...while we were there they gave her a breathing treatment and a steriod to open up her lungs, and she was better in no time. eeks...those steroids are terrible...my sweet little girl turns into a monster. I'm so thankful for my mom! She stayed home with her Friday b/c we had to give her breathing treatments every 4 hours (the daycare won't give them). By Saturday, she was on the mend and kept saying "I want to go shoppin' mommy" over and over and over...We're still doing breathing treatments, just as a precaution, but she's fine now.

I really hope she grows out of this stuff!

shoooewee

Oh my goodness...this little girl makes me laugh. For some reason she can't tell the difference between a fox and a skunk. We have a book with a fox...every time she sees it she holds her nose and says "shoooewee"(pronounced shoe we in her best little Arkansas twang). Tonight we were playing with some little animals and there happened to be a fox. She said, "what's that mommy". When I told her it was a fox...you guessed it - nose held and a big "shoooeweee". It doesn't matter that I explain to her that skunks stink, but foxes don't...to her they do.

Tomorrow is her flu shot. Fun times. I think it's going to be much worse on me than on her. I asked her tonight if she wanted to go see Dr. Ashcraft tomorrow. She said yes. I have a feeling after tomorrow, her the answer will be a firm "no". She's got a pretty good memory when it comes to stuff like that (but not foxes and skunks for some reason).

Finding Joy

I came to a great realization last week. I don't enjoy my life enough. I have such a great life. A wonderful husband; a precious, funny little girl; a precious boy/girl on the way; a terriffic job; Chris has a terriffic job; a healthy family; we're getting to build our dream house; have wonderful friends; a great church and most of all an amazing God who regardless of whether I have the above listed things, loves me like crazy.

When Christina, Kerry and I were driving back from Tulsa yesterday, we got into a conversation that we always seem to have when we get together for a drive...see, last year, right after we got back from our shopping trip, Christina got terrible news. Her husband Bryson went in to have a MRI on his back. The results of the MRI came back with a tumor on his kidney - not related to his back problems. Their lives were temporarily turned upside down. Right around Christmas, he had his kidney removed and the cancer was gone. He had his last body scan last month and it was clear, so now the scans are much less frequent. It all turned out o.k. But when she talks about the day Bryson called to tell her about the tumor, I get a lump in my throat. She talks about sitting in her car by herself and crying - thinking that she was going to have to raise her kids by herself. She said she gave herself some time to cry and be irrational, then she made herself suck it up and take care of things. It is in these moments, I think, that God allows people to shine. In the midst of this tragedy, this is a family that showed amazing strength and faith in a situation that didn't make sense. It wasn't fair. People were watching to see how they handled it though. It's true that far too many people don't get to have a happy ending. But, when Bryson and Christina were going through it and handling it with grace, they weren't sure whether it would have a happy ending.

I want to live my life that way whether I'm going through true struggles like these, or the small things in my life that happen that I perceive as true struggles. People are always watching to see how we handle what life throws at us. I would love to show them a picture of how Christ would handle it.

I want to find joy in all things - regardless of my situation. Simply because I have a God who loves me. I want that to be enough.

My feet hurt....

This weekend has been a shopping marathon...and that's not really an exaggeration! My friend Christina, my sister and I took a vacation day on Friday and went to Tulsa to get Christmas shopping done. (Tulsa friends, please forgive me for not calling!) We got there by 11 a.m. and checked into our hotel at 9:30 p.m. Then got up Sat morning and shopped until 3...I was spent! We had the best time AND got lots of great bargins.

I love finding the perfect gift for people. That's the the best part of the whole gift thing I think!

I heard the girls at church are singing "Breath of Heaven" this morning...oh, I can't wait to hear it.