December update!

Where has this month gone? We are still here! We have been swept up in the busy-ness of the season. The boys are wrapping up their last day of school before winter break as I type. Due to impending snow, they are getting out a bit early today. They will have 2 1/2 weeks off of school! I've worked hard to get Christmas shopping and wrapping mostly done by today so I can spend quality time with them next week and the week after.

I don't have a ton of share-worthy info, but wanted to check in. Dan and I are spending a night away from home tonight while the boys sleep over with their cousins. It'll be a fun night, all around! Tomorrow it is supposed to get as low as -25 degrees (without factoring in wind chill), so we will be all cozied up!

My next post will be more exciting. :) Thanks for peeking in! Enjoy your weekend!

Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas! We wish you all the best and thank you for being here. We had a great day filled with games, snuggling, playing, present-opening and a bit of sickness. This progression of photos will show you how Sammy has been feeling. Tonight he went to bed with a bit of a fever. We are hoping for healing tonight because we are leaving for vacation in the morning. Enjoy the faces..

Despite the sickness, we had a great day. Dan and I increased Elijah's med dosage a few days ago and we have already seen an improvement in behavior. He has been sick AND he slept only 6 hours last night and despite all of that his behavior was impressive today.

I was trying to get Sammy to bed early tonight because he was not feeling well and he was being defiant. Elijah, without prompting, saw my distress and grabbed Sammy's favorite toy and brought it over to us. "Sammy!" he said, "I'm bringing this upstairs, so you should come, too!" It worked. I was grateful because Sammy went to bed without dispute and Elijah helped...and without any prompting! After Sammy was in bed, Elijah asked if his prompting had helped. YES! Dan and I were super impressed with the forethought.

Our "big" gift for the boys this year was a little drum set. Elijah has impeccable rhythm and I have always had visions of him being a drummer at our church. :) Both boys had fun playing with the drums today. Elijah asked for exact timing, so I found a metronome app that helped him stick with a rhythm.

Right away in the morning we are heading to Illiniois. Sunday we will head to Indiana, where we will spend five wonderful days with my family in a rental home. We are so excited! Thanks for peeking in!!

Happy Merry Crazy Christmas!

We received our family photos that Hope Kids took for us this past fall. Look at these handsome boys!

We have had a bit of a crazy past week. Both boys have been sick on and off. Two nights ago Sammy was borderline for a croup episode. It was minor enough not to report on here officially. :) After a very brief and semi-unnecessary steamy bathroom stint, he grabbed his favorite blankies from his bed and said, "Well?! Are you going to help me with these, or what?" "OH! You're coming to bed with me??" And yes, he came to bed with me. It was wonderful because I LOVE having him close to me, but I typically do not let our boys in our bed. Sammy is a restless sleeper, so we didn't sleep much after that. It was worth it, though.

Ever since, he has had his typical lingering croupy cough. For the past few days, Elijah has had some random ailments, too. Tummy pains, headaches, sore throat, random aches....and today he woke up at 2am FOR THE DAY. When I saw him this morning I actually gasped. I have NEVER seen such tired and bloodshot eyes on my oldest boy. NEVER. And that is saying a lot. It was a rough day. I'm grateful today was timed well. We have a BIG agenda ahead of us and I want to be sure our boys are feeling good for the days ahead.

This holiday season has been so crazy, but we remain grateful and feel so blessed. Merry Christmas to all of you! Thanks for checking in. xo

TC is back.

We have been sooo lucky for the past few years in the realm of acquiring coughs. When Elijah was a baby, actually until he was 4 or so, he pretty much had a terrible cough through every winter. Tons of sleep was lost due to those darn coughs and they never seemed to want to go away. I remember considering The Cough to be an honorary member of our family, as it had a life of its own and never wanted to leave. There were stretches of time when I would sleep in our closet because that was the only place in our house where coughing couldn't be heard. Since Christmas break began, TC is back in our house in a way that he hasn't been in years. Since Elijah's croup episodes last week, he's been coughing like crazy. It has gradually become looser and it has disturbed his sleep less with each passing night. Sammy's cough started two days ago and has been getting worse. We brought him to the doctor today and the poor boy has bronchitis. He sounds awful!

In one sense it's been frustrating because I really wanted Elijah to get caught up over this two-week break. But on the other hand, THANK GOODNESS he hasn't been in school while this sickness ran through him. He'd be a double mess! At one point today Elijah was red-eyed and stumbling around and Dan said, "He is running on fumes....no, not even fumes. I don't know WHAT he's running on." He is so depleted still, but we have cleared our schedules for the next five days. We have nothing planned but rest and early bedtimes!

That's all we've got for now. Aside from the coughs and sickness, we have been enjoying spending tons of time together and napping and eating and playing games and reading books. I love my boys! Please pray for our sweet Sammy to HEAL!