Boutique & a busy summer!

Well, I am currently tagging my items to sell at Boutique for a Week – an upscale children’s consignment sale!  It is so exciting to be able to move these great clothes out of my house in order to make room, well, for more clothes – bigger ones for the kids!  It is amazing how at times it can even be a little bit emotional (not crying emotional) but kind of sad to realize my cute little boys are so little anymore!  I am only getting rid of a few of Ella’s things – mostly the boys’ stuff.  Hopefully I will be able to sell a lot! 

If you are in the Orlando area, be sure to check out the info at www.boutiqueforaweek.net  The sale is next week, if you are interested in shopping!  It is really great!  I always look forward to it!

Our summer has flown by…can’t believe it is August and almost time to start school!   I have hardly had time to do updates this summer – I hate that.  I have some catchin’ up to do.  Hope to do that soon. 

The kids and I just returned from a week-long trip with my parents to Evansville, IN to see my grandparents and then to Nashville, TN to see Tall Tree in concert at Belmont University.  We had a great time away, but it is good to be home.  On the way home, I had a major allergic reaction to something (no idea what) and my whole face, lips & tongue were swollen & huge!  It was awful – very much a “Hitch”-like experience – so embarrasing!  It required a trip to a walk-in clinic just outside of Nashville, a steroid shot, a round of oral steroids, ointment for the itching (oh yes, I had terrible hives!) and lots of Benedryl.  I was jumpy and sleepy all at the same time!  Ughhh…It has been several days and the swelling is pretty much gone (just a tad left in my cheeks) and I still have itchy hives.  I have  a follow-up appt. with my doctor tomorrow – sounds like they are going to run lots of tests to try to figure out what happened!  Oh joy! 

Well that is a quick update.  Hopefully I will be able to stay on top of this once we get into our school routine!

Have a great August day!

…yuck…

So, we’ve been a bit under the weather at our house.  We don’t have anything major, but just that yucky feeling in our heads – allergies, colds, etc.  Alec is the only one that seems to feel normal (and he is wearing me out with his energy!) 

I am sure this crazy weather that we are having isn’t helping anything.  70’s or even 80’s one day, then our lows will drop to the 20’s!  Aggghhhh!  I just wish it would level out so our bodies could adjust.  The cooler weather is nice, but just so unpredictable.

Well, Ella is down for a nap now, so I must jump at the chance to get some things down. 

Hope you all stay well! 

Trying to Keep Perspective

Sickness still resides in our house.  Just when I thought Alec was getting over his brochitis, Caleb started up with a fever.  Then it went away and then it returned.  So he is now showing the same symptoms Alec had last week.  (Alec still has a bit of a cough, but is okay other than that.)

Anyway, I have asked the Lord to help me keep things in perspective and that He would give me joy in the midst of this time.  Let me tell you, it is a fight for joy – and I am not always winning! 

The Lord was kind to point out this quote today on the Girl Talk blog:

“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own,’ or ‘real’ life.  The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life—the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one’s ‘real life’ is a phantom of one’s own imagination.  This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it’s hard to remember it all the time.” The Quotable Lewis, (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1989), 335.

What a helpful reminder that the Lord has ordained each day in my life and this is what He has sovereignly ordained for today!  I need His grace and strength to serve my family in a way that will glorify Him!

This last week…

As I mentioned in another post, this past week has been a little crazy around here – due to illness.  Not sure where this came from but boy it got us!  Alec got sick last Monday.  He originally had croup and then it turned into bronchitis by Saturday.  Ughh…we knew he was sick when he didn’t want to play soccer!  The doc put him on antibiotics and a breathing treatment.  It all seems to be working – Thank You, Lord!    He still has a cough, but it isn’t as bad.  Overall, he seems to be feeling much better.  (Back to his trouble making self!  ha!)

Last night, Caleb said his eyes were burning and that he had a headache…you guessed it…he had a fever..102.3, I think.  So back to the couches!  (When my kids are sick, the high point of that time is that they get to sleep on the couch with their pillows and blankets.  I sleep out there with them, so I don’t disturb Daddy as I get up and down during the night.  I can also keep a closer eye on them.  Often I let them watch cartoons if they can’t sleep.  Last week when Alec was sick, Caleb said that Alec was lucky because he got to sleep out in the living room!  Ha!) 

Ella’s first tooth is still cutting through, so she has been pretty fussy and clingy.  At times she is fine, but other times she just squeals (in a way that can go all through you!)  I am just trying to keep Tylenol in her so she is more comfortable.  But she has still been very sweet!

Needless to say, I am in even more need of grace and strength from the Lord than normal.  But he has promised to give me everything that I need – that is GREAT NEWS!  We would love your prayers for health!

Here are a few photos from last week.  Alec seemed to be feeling better this night, so we went to Coldstone for their ice cream social.  They gave out free (tiny) cups of ice cream to benefit the Make a Wish Foundation.  We saw a lot of people up there that we knew.  Here are just a few pics from our night out.

Figured it out!

Well…we have figured out what was wrong with Ella…it seems she had Roseola – a common virus that babies ( & young children) can get.  Both boys had it as infants.  It has a fast onset of a high fever (103+) for a few days, then once the fever is gone, a rash breaksout on the trunk of the body – which is exactly what happened on Sat. night.  It hit me once I saw the rash.  The fact that she had her immunizations the day before kind of confused everything, but two different issues.  I personally think she picked it up at the doc’s office – but who knows!  ( I did verify her symptoms with the pediatrician’s nurse and she agreed that it was Roseola!)

She is feeling better now, but still a little cranky & clingy.  Her sleeping times have gotten all mixed up.  Oh well…I am just glad it wasn’t too serious.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Now we are just gearing up for whatever TS Fay is going to deliver in the next day or two!

Quick update…Ella

Well, Ella seems to be feeling better today.  She has still had a bit of a fever (101.5), but Tylenol keeps it down.  She is much happier today, so that is good.  I did talk to the nurse and the early culture that they got from the hospital was clear, so no UTI.  Most likely the fever was caused from either the immunizations or she just picked up a little virus.  Hopefully whatever it is will be gone soon!  Thanks so much for your prayers!

fighting colds

Yuck…it seems that we are fighting some kind of cold in our house.  We are all a bit under the weather.  Even Ella has been congested and coughing.  Last night we even had Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner (the yummy kind from Costco)!  Thankfully, though, we had a better night sleep last night.  Hopefully it won’t last too long!

Quick Caleb Update…

Just wanted to give you a quick update on Caleb…THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have been praying for Caleb’s headaches and those that have been checking in on him!!!

He seems to be doing better!  Thank You, Lord!  He has still gotten headaches over the past few days, but they have been less intense and have not lasted nearly as long.  I switched him over to 1 1/2 adult ibuprofen and 1 adult sudafed when he feels one coming on.  That seems to be doing the trick.  He definitely knows when he is feeling it come, and quickly goes to lie down.  (He seems a bit fearful when the headache starts – and he wants to lie down immediately.  I am sure this is just his way of dealing with the pain and I know that he wants to keep it from getting bad.) 

Today was a great day.  He is gone right now, but as of about 5pm, he hadn’t had a headache all day!  Thank You, Lord!  We are grateful for any improvement at this point! 

Thank you again for caring for our boy!

Still sick… :(

Well, I was hoping that everyone would be well here by now, but not so!  Alec spiked almost 102 this morning – was fine most of the day – then spiked another fever tonight.  Caleb hasn’t had a fever today, but has had a bad headache all day.  I am praying that it goes away – since the docs get concerned about him when he has bad headaches (due to his shunt). 

We tried to go out for dinner tonight…got to Cracker Barrel and before we even got seated, Caleb’s head started hurting really badly.  So, we left.  They asked for MORE mac-n-cheese.  (We have practically lived on macaroni and chicken soup for several days!)  So, that is what they had for dinner and Chris got take-out for us!  It was nice to have a real meal! 

Thank you to those that have called or emailed to check on us!  Please keep praying!  This was day 4 of fever for Alec, so it is getting a little old!  We will obviously be staying home from service tomorrow! Don’t want to share our cooties!

On an up note, Chris and I worked in Ella’s room today!  He took down the daybed and we moved everything out of the room and then he pulled up the carpet!  That is really exciting!  We will be laying new carpet in there, after we paint!  (I also got my paint colors picked out – now we just need to make it up to home depot to buy the paint!)

Well, the bed is calling my name!   

We have sick boys…

Well, our little guys are sick…they started feeling bad on Tuesday afternoon – just not quite themselves.  Alec got the fever first around 2:30am on Wed. morning.  Yesterday was okay, but around 4pm they both spiked high fevers.  We were up most of last night – Caleb started up with a “barking cough” – poor guy.

So off to the doctor first thing this morning.  Caleb had 104.1 temp when we left the house.  He has croup!  So they gave him a steroid to help the inflammation in his throat.  He is very hoarse and has a sore throat.  Alec is still spiking high fevers when the meds wear off, and has a sore throat, but nothing other than that. 

The doctor said tonight or tomorrow night could be worse for Caleb, so please keep us in your prayers!  I am spraying tons of Lysol and washing my hands constantly.  I really don’t want to get this!

I hope you and your family are staying well with all the junk that is going around!