Making the Rounds

Now AJ is in bed with a headache and fever.

Plugging Along

DH has been sick this week, but he's finally well enough to go in to work today. It seems to be the same bug Ebee had . . . it will be interesting to see whether he gets a rash or not.

He was sicker than Ebee was--the worst part with a fever and all really only lasted a day for her, and for him it was more like 2 or 3 days. (Ebee is fine, BTW, and it most likely was some other virus, especially since apparently Rubella is very rare in the USA, and because those of us who have been vaccinated are catching what seems to be the same illness too.)

AJ and M&M have seemed like they're fighting something off and on, but so far haven't gotten sick. I have a sore throat and am extra-tired this morning, so hopefully it's just allergies and not enough sleep. :)

Yesterday I took our entries over to the fair. AJ made a big purple "alien warrior" out of an old rice milk case to enter as "scrap art," M&M entered a picture she painted, and AJ drew a picture of a "happy daddy" to enter. I entered 4 photos and a mint green crocheted afghan, and took over a couple of photos each for my mom and sister. So photos of our family will be rather well-represented in the competition.

I dreamed last night that one of my pictures won a blue ribbon. :)

We always really enjoy the fair. I've been going to it and entering various contests and shows there ever since I can remember. It's fun to see your work displayed even if it doesn't win anything, and I always enjoy finding entries made by people I know and looking at the ones by people I don't know.

AJ really wanted an animal to enter in the fair--the idea of doing something like rabbit or dog 4-H really appeals to her. I think she'd do a good job with it.

We've been hoping to eventually get a pet, possibly next year. But this week SIL The Mentor rescued a little shetland sheepdog that sounds like it might potentially be a good fit for our family. I've always liked shelties, and SIL says this one is exceptionally sweet, gentle, friendly and well-behaved. She already knows how to do things like heel and go to the bathroom on command.

So I talked to DH and the kids, and we decided to try for her. SIL took the dog to the shelter, where hopefully they'll find her owner if one is looking for her. If not she'll most likely go up for adoption.

We are going to at least try to get our house and yard ready for the home study by Sunday so we can go take a look at her as soon as (if) she is cleared for adoption. It would be special to get a dog on Ebee's birthday.

Flushing

I came downstairs to find AJ with her head in the sink.

"If you'd like a drink of water," I said, "you could get a cup in the kitchen."

"No, I was flushing my eye," she said. "I got soap in it."

Me: "Oh! Are you ok? Did you think of flushing it with water on your own, or did Daddy tell you to do that?"

AJ: "Well, once I read the back of the soap and it said that if you get soap in your eye, you should flush it with water. I always like to read the backs of things."

M&M: "Flushing!?!? What's flushing your eye?"

AJ: "Flushing your eye means running water through it until it's clear of soap. Mom, did I do it right?"

Me: "You did it exactly right. Good for you."

DH to me, later: "She's an unusual child."

Fun at the park, a baby, and a rash

It's been a fun couple of days. Last night I went wedding dress shopping with Dr. AB and we found "the one." It is rather unique and special, and it looks lovely on her. I got to meet Dr. A's future SIL also, which was fun.

We went back to Dr. A's place after our shopping trip to eat and hang out. She lives on a hill, and there's not enough parking near her condo, so as usual I ended up having to park clear down at the bottom of the hill near the entrance to the complex.

I was really encouraged, because I walked all the way from my car to her apartment with no trouble and wasn't even much winded when I got there. Last time I was there I had a really hard time making it up the hill and had to stop 3 or 4 times to rest and then was completely tired and out of breath when I finally made it. It's really encouraging to see a tangible sign of progress like that. Without those measurable signs of progress it just seems like it's still taking forever to get fully recovered from having had mono.

Ebee was feeling significantly better by Friday, and today she seemed perfectly healthy and energetic. So we went to the picnic to celebrate the birth of our newest niece (DH's sister's child). That was a lot of fun. Little SR is adorable, and we had fun playing games and watching all the cousins enjoy the park, the lake and each other's company.





Here's a photo of SR and her mother--aren't they lovely?




In the afternoon, though, I noticed that Ebee had some sort of funny-looking spots on her torso and upper arms--oh, and on her face too. They looked sort of similar to the rashes she used to get with her allergies. I figured it was probably a heat rash, irritation from the sunscreen, or something like that. But since my SIL is an experienced mother, I asked her what she thought of it.

I was really surprised when she looked at it and said, "Oh, that looks like Rubella (or German Measles). When my child had it . . . " and started detailing symptoms and a progression of illness that pretty much exactly fit with what Ebee had this week.



When I talked to Dr. A, she said it certainly sounded like a possibility. So we'll call Ebee's pediatrician tomorrow and see if they want to run titers or anything. Since Rubella is contagious from about a week before the fever starts until 4 days after the rash is gone, we've probably exposed some people. :-(

It's not a serious disease except for unborn babies . . . there is a risk to the baby if a mother comes down with it during pregnancy. I am a little concerned since we were with my friend JT who is pregnant, and another friend who is TTC this week. I'm guessing, though, that they probably all had their MMRs as kids and are most likely immune.

We're definitely staying home from church in the morning, though. We don't want to be exposing everyone there.

White on White

Here are a couple of pictures I took last night. We watched the video of our wedding and then opened the cedar chest to look at my keepsakes.

The girls are enthralled with my dress and veil, and say they want to wear them in their own weddings someday. Of course, I know their tastes may change as they get older, but it would be fun if one or more of them decided to wear my dress.



DH and I actually celebrated our anniversary on Tuesday. Our friend CreativeCrafty watched the girls while we went out to see Wall-E (cute movie) and then out to dinner. It worked out really well, since Ebee ended up getting sick on our anniversary.

Ebee is feeling much better already today. I've been lacing her watered-down juice with sodium ascorbate (buffered Vitamin C), and giving her cod-liver oil (in capsules--she actually likes them!) and a children's echinacea concoction, and that seemed to help quite a bit. She has no fever and much more energy and cheer today.

As Amy mentioned yesterday, I'm so very thankful that days like yesterday are now the exception rather than the norm. Praise the Lord for healthy kids!

This brings back memories . . .

Ebee is sick. I don't know what she has, but she's extremely whiny and fussy. Basically, she's crying unless she's nursing. She has a fever, but she says no when I ask her if her head, ears, etc. hurt. She did say that her legs hurt, so I'm wondering if it's the flu.

I'm really hoping she'll take another nap soon. She's miserable, and it's quickly wearing me down as well. At least the older girls are happily entertaining themselves.

9 years ago today

I signed my life away.



And I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.



My Beloved, I'm so incredibly blessed to be married to you. I love you.

Toast

At dinner, AJ lifted her glass and said, "I toast M&M for her great sister-ness."

Summer Smiles

We've had some great things to smile about this week. First, our newest niece was born (to Musical Family from Overseas).



Isn't she adorable?

We've had several births, a wedding, and lots of great family get-togethers this summer.

Also, my friend Dr. A is getting married. Hooray! I'm also excited that I get to be in the wedding. I've been cake cutter, punch server, gift attendant, etc. many times, but this will be my first time actually being in the wedding party in a wedding other than my own. I'm the matron of honor, and I'm so . . . well . . . honored. :) M&M is going to be the flower girl and AJ will be doing something, too; possibly being the guest book attendant.

One of our neighbors is having a garage sale and offered to let us put some things out to sell, too. It's such a blessing to me because I have some things I wanted to take to consign, and just haven't had the energy. I definitely wouldn't have the energy to run a garage sale myself right now, so being able to put some things over at the neighbor's sale is great. I took over our old crib and about 3 big bags of clothes, and a few miscellaneous other things. It's so nice to be able to get those out of the house.

After taking things over to the sale yesterday, though, I was exhausted. Thankfully my friend Morning was understanding when she came to visit. After she left, I ended up spending much of the afternoon lying on the couch. At least from there I was able to supervise the kids and direct them in picking up their things and getting ready for their end-of-VBS performance that evening. DH brought take-out Chinese food home for dinner. Thanks so much, Honey!

The performance was very cute, and they did a great job. It was especially nice that my dad and sisters and Dr. A were able to come see the kids' little program. That means so much to them. My mom can't go to things like that because of her compromised immune system (kidney transplant), but sent her love.

Tomorrow we have the family reunion for my mom's family. That will be nice . . . I'm really hoping I'll have enough energy to get through the weekend. Right now I'm completely out of spoons.

Music to my ears

This afternoon Ebee was singing, "I love my life; I love my life. All my life I love my life."

AJ and M&M had VBS today, and Baby E and I had a lazy morning. She rode her trike while I put up trim around the front flowerbed, and played in the sand while I worked a bit on the garden. Then we ran a short errand and put together a puzzle before we laid on the couch to rest together for a while before lunch (and the arrival of the big girls).

Now we're all having naps and quiet time.

Gardening

I've been feeling quite a bit better the last few days--it's so nice to have a bit of energy again, and not have to crash early in the day.

The garden has been completely overgrown with weeds. I've been wroking gradually on it over the last week or so, and had cleared out one of the raised beds. Yesterday while the kids played outside, I pulled weeds and put them in a 5-gallon bucket to carry to the compost pile/brush heap. I pulled 20 gallons of buttercups and at least 10 gallons of other assorted weeds.

Now about 1/3 of the garden is clear for planting. I may or may not clear out any more . . . it's a bit late in the season for planting, anyway. I'm going to go and buy some soil amendments and plant starts today. I'm not even sure what's appropriate for planting in mid-July.

Recent Kid Sayings

Ebee: "Mommy, tan we take Baby Ben* home to ouw house and teep hew fowevew? Pweese? I weawwy love hew. I want hew to tome home wif us and be ouw own baby. Pweese, Aunt [Artistic SIL]? Tan we take Baby Ben home wif us and teep hew?"

*No, my niece is not really named Baby Ben, but that's what Ebee calls her.

M&M (Emerging from the bathroom at MIL's house, which has a well-stocked bookshelf in front of the toilet): "Mom, what should I expect when I'm expecting?"

AJ: "Mom, who's Arthur Unknown? But who IS he? Does anyone even know Arthur Unknown's phone number?"

Quick update

I've spent the last week or two mostly resting a lot, between family gatherings and caring for the kids. Yesterday and today, I've actually felt like I was starting to have a bit of energy again. That's encouraging. A lot of DH's family is in town right now, so we've had some really nice times visiting with them.

We spent Friday and Saturday with Adventurous BIL and Artistic SIL at their new farm . . . they're now less than an hour southeast of us rather than 2 hours north, which makes quite a difference in visit-ability (is that a word?)

Several times this month, we've gotten to attend family gatherings on DH's side, at SIL the Mentor's house and at FIL/MIL's house. It's been great to spend time with our loved ones--both the ones who live nearby and the ones who live across the world from us.

Now that's embarrassing

I managed to get myself stranded at a friend's house today. I know my pain and fatigue levels were really high today, but I figured that since they were only about 10-15 minutes' drive away, I'd be able to manage.

The kids had a great time playing with their friends, but I forgot that they also have two cats in the house. Adding the cat allergens on top of the fairly extreme flare-up I was already having was just too much for me.

By the time I realized how bad it was getting, I was past being able to drive. So I tried to stick it out until I felt better, but it just kept getting worse. I tried to hide it as long as I could, but eventually I dissolved into a puddle of tears. Don't you just hate it when pain and fatigue get to the level where you can't think straight and you feel like you're either going to throw up or pass out?

My friend was so sweet. She put me to rest in her bed, sent the kids outside, and said that she really could drive us home or call my husband if I needed her to.

Eventually I felt enough better to be able to drive home, promising my friend that I would call her when I got home (or pull over and call her or DH before then if I was having difficulty driving safely).

The trip home went fine, other than my getting annoyed at a trucker in a fancy semi who apparently thought the road was a hotrod racetrack. He kept riding on my tail, then tried to pass me where there wasn't really room. I cringed and tucked my tail, speeding faster than I felt comfortable with while trying to keep a safe distance between us. Finally I braked to a fast 35 MPH (on a 35MPH road) to fling my minivan around the corner onto our street. He honked at me as he gunned past up the hill. Argh.

Anyway, we made it home OK. For most of the afternoon I let the kids play in the back yard while I rested on the couch nearby. Thankfully we had enough leftovers for dinner, and Ebee took a short nap. DH took over when he got home and let me take it easy.

I'm really hoping the pain levels will settle down enough to let me sleep tonight. I've often been having trouble dozing off before 4 or 5 in the morning this week, because the worse the pain gets the harder it is to sleep--and the less sleep I get, the worse the pain gets. Lovely cycle, there.

As the week wears on, I'm really questioning whether the fun at the beach was really worth it. I'm glad to have done it, but I'm not sure I'd do it again. I'd been feeling a lot better the last couple of weeks, but I guess it's still pretty easy to upset the equilibrium. Grrr.

Sleep well, everyone. I'm heading to bed, and I'm sticking close to home for a while.

Quote from M&M

Me: "It sounds like you girls are getting kind of grumpy. It must be time for bed."

M&M: Nooooo! We're not grumpy at all, Mom . . . we're just getting a little bit mad."