"I've got my spirits!"

A future cheerleader or just another Andrew-ism? The boys have discovered the fun that a chopstick can be. They found some in the drawer this morning and have been slashing them at each other all day. Andrew calls them "Spirits" and I've heard many times today "I've got my spirits!" followed by some growl or other warrior sound.

Nana to the rescue!

What started as a week of us feeling sick, cooped up, and behind in everything has ended with us feeling rested with projects completed. The reason... Nana came for a visit! While she was here, I was able to run out for a few minutes here and there just like a normal person. I even got my hair cut. Here is a picture of the fire station that Nana and the boys built this morning.



The other exciting event of the day was the toad Scott found while digging. I think he actually woke the toad from hibernation. He responded just as I respond first thing in the morning when Scott wakes me from my hibernation - slow and groggy. Scott returned him to the leaves and we assume he is happily sleeping again (that is until Derrick decides to rake this weekend.)

We are home!

We are so excited to be home from the hospital. It has been an eventful three days. We woke on Saturday morning and gave Amanda her breathing treatment. After she received it, she still sounded awful. She was making noises at each breath and generally looked really bad. Luckily, our doctor was on call on Saturday morning, so I called and they told me to come right away. Once I was there, the doctor recommended that she be hospitalized. Since RSV is a virus, they can only treat the symptoms with more frequent breathing treatments, an oxygen tube in her nose, antibiotics for her ear infection and monitoring of her oxygen supply and breathing ability. She also got an x-ray of her chest to rule out pneumonia.

I stayed with Amanda in the hospital, while Derrick was at home with the boys. It was wonderful to be reunited with the family this afternoon. I sure did miss my boys, although it was nice to be able to focus solely on Amanda as she needed me. I did not have to hold her and make pb&j sandwiches at the same time.

Here is a picture from the hospital and a video I took this morning as we were getting ready to leave.



Oh, and I almost forgot to post this story. I planned to post it on Saturday...

We had a good day #2 of quarantine on Friday. At one point, we were all outside and the boys were playing with chalk. Andrew drew a line and declared it was gun. I said it looked more like an arrow, so he drew another straight line and said that was his bow. (He is really into weapons right now.) Well, I flippantly asked him if he could draw an "A", since he just learned a few weeks ago that his name started with an A. Here is what he came up with! Can you see the A in the upper right of the picture?I was floored and asked him to do it again and he did on another part of the driveway.

I guess it is "second child syndrome." We have done no formal school work with Andrew, but he absorbs everything that I'm doing at home with Scott.

Well, our first day of quarantine went really well. It was kind of like a snow day - the unexpected day off was nice and relaxing. Amanda took her nebulizer well and the boys are already feeling better from their ear infections. We pray that it stays this easy. Evidently, RSV gets worse in the first 7-9 days and we are likely only on day 4 or 5. Here are some pictures from the day.



Scott found the box from the new humidifier and wanted to make it into a mask. That started the ball rolling on creating robot costumes. You can see Scott in the background wearing the big box on his head. I cut eyes in it, but later he decided he did not need a mask. I think it was too heavy.





These coffee cans have been featured in several of my blogs. The boys love playing with them and I love using them to store small toys. And that's the problem. Many toys were dumped on the floor to make robot feet and shields. So, Dad, maybe I retract my earlier statement that we have enough.

I wish I were an octopus

The worst thing about having three sick children is that they all want to be in my arms. Seeing as God only gave me two arms, that means they have to take turns or simply be OK with sitting next to me. But, if I were a Mommy Octopus, I would have enough arms to go around and two extra to fix meals, switch laundry and post to my blog!

Since Amanda is the most portable, she stays in my arms the most. Scott isn't quite as needy right now, since he is the least sick. That leaves poor Andrew, who just sits and cries for me. It breaks my heart. How I love it when Derrick walks in the door and I can hand one off to him. Of course, tonight he started chopping the onions and celery for dinner, since I've found that's hard to do with one arm (Amanda in the other).

We went to the doctor today and Amanda has RSV and the boys have ear infections. Amanda and Andrew have been prescribed a nebulizer treatment for the uncertain future. That involves sitting with a face mask over your mouth and breathing. As much as I dislike the TV, I forsee many movies in the next week, as I bribe Andrew to sit still.

I'm signing off to take a hot bubble bath and rest for tomorrow.

Monday thoughts on a Tuesday

I wonder why we waste electricity by running a humidifier in the boy's room at the same time that we run a dehumidifier in the basement. Isn't there some way to channel the humidity to the room where we want it?

Thoughts like this keep me going on days like today. Amanda has some sort of stomach bug and has thrown up all her meals since last night. I managed to get some pedialite down an hour ago and am about to try again. She also has a bad diaper rash from diarrhea. Please pray for her recovery and that she does not get dehydrated.

Andrew has had a cold all weekend and it is really cold outside. I think we are going to hunker down at home today and read lots of books.

The blessing is that I have a roast in the CrockPot, so no matter what the day brings, we will have dinner on the table. Yeah for the slow cooker!

A long day

I have a friend who likes the saying "The days are long, but the years are short" to describe raising toddlers. I have to say that most of my days aren't that long. By the time we get up, read, eat and get dressed, it is often 9:00. Then we spend time doing school activities and playing outside and it is suddenly time for lunch. After lunch, we have more play and naps. Then, all of a sudden, it is approaching 4:00 and I expect Derrick home within the hour.

But, today was a different story. We decided to stay home from Bible Study, with the cold weather and me not wanting to haul three kids 1/2 mile to and from the car. The afternoon dragged on and we were all getting bored. So what's a bored Mom to do? Why take videos of course. The boys LOVE acting in front of the camera and then seeing themselves when we are through. I won't bore you with all the videos I took today, but here are some samples.

The funny thing was that, with each video, the boys got more and more excited. By the time Derrick got home, they were really wound up!

I have a new kitchen island!

It serves only one purpose for assisting me in food preparation - not additional counter space, not additional storage space, no ice maker, sink or food warming drawer. It takes up as much room as an island, but is slightly lower to the ground. You ask, "What is this great new kitchen gadget that you have?"

Our bouncy seat!

The only purpose it serves is to give Amanda a spot to sit and give me two free hands to perform all kitchen functions. She is a true "Christine" in this sense. As you may know, Christine is a fourth generation family name. My grandmother, mother, Amanda and I all share that name. And, we also all share common traits. One of the strongest Christine traits is not wanting to miss out on ANYTHING! Amanda is generally a pretty happy baby, as long as she is in the same room as everyone else. So, we drag her bouncy seat throughout the house, but you are most likely to find it in the middle of the kitchen floor.

By the way, Scott also shares this trait, even though he doesn't have Christine in his name. Andrew is our child who will play by himself (and get into trouble by himself.)

One advantage to using cloth diapers is that it is easy to say "yes" when your child insists that his bear is about to poop all over the floor and needs to have a diaper. That was just the scenario yesterday when I was changing Amanda and Andrew was playing with his bear.

We had a wonderful time of imaginative play. Scott (who is usually the leader of all thoughts, ideas and games) was outside with Derrick, so Andrew and I had some time to play together. It is great fun to see the wild directions that his thoughts take him.

A few minutes later, he wanted to hold Amanda. I snapped this cute picture of the two of them.



Below is a picture of Amanda with "Penelope", her new doll. It is the one that she smiled at a few days ago. She really doesn't show a great interest in anything yet, expect her hands (which fascinate her) and real human faces, especially mine.

science!

Believe it or not, Scott is holding a grapefruit and an orange in this picture. We purchased these huge oranges while we were in Texas (where everything is bigger!) Scott did an experiment one day last week to see if could guess which was which, using his senses. He did great! He knew which was which by feel, smell, sight, and (of course) taste. The only sense we did not test was hearing. Later we listened as we peeled both and they even sound different. What a fun experiment!

Random Thoughts

As we have tried to get back into the "swing" of things this week, I have a few random thoughts and phrases that have made me smile.

*When is the best time to mop the kitchen floor? Why, after Scott has helped me wash the dishes, of course! He loves to scrub, scrub, scrub every dish and often manages to splash lots of water on the floor. I love his help because I can dry and put away as he washes! Today, Andrew was also helping. He picked up the sponge and squeezed it right onto the floor. So tomorrow, I can eat food off of the floor in front of the sink with confidence!

*This evening, Andrew "stanked" Daddy. I didn't know "stank" was a verb, much less a word. Andrew had just taken his shoes off and Derrick commented on the fact that he had his dirty, stinky (or maybe stanky) feet on our bed. Andrew stuck his feet in Derrick's face and said "I stanked you Daddy!"

*Amanda, while not yet very funny, is terribly cute. She has consented to being put down during the day, as long as she is in the middle of the action. This afternoon, her bouncy seat was in the middle of the kitchen floor, as we all worked and played around her. We have all decided that she truly is a girl. I held up her new doll for her to look at today and she cooed and smiled so brightly. How can a three month old already have such preferences! She definitely does not coo when Scott races his lego trucks up her face!

I promise I will post pictures soon. I'm a little intiminated by the 300+ pictures I have on my camera right now from Christmas. We had a great time in Texas and I tried to document everything!

Christmas Letter

We've just returned from a wonderful, long vacation to Texas to visit Derrick's family. Our mail-lady delivered all of our mail from the past 10 days this afternoon, and the stack was full of Christmas letters and cards. As I read snippets from friends' lives, I felt like I had cheated myself by not writing a newsy Christmas letter. That normally is a great avenue to reflect on the year. So, here is my Christmas letter that I would have written.

Merry Christmas!

We have had a year full of blessings, the biggest being the birth of a baby girl, Amanda Christine on September 23. She has brought much joy (and pink) into our lives. Even though she is just three months old, I already cannot remember what life was like without her. The boys love their sister and have adjusted well to the new addition. They now share a bedroom and love their new lofted beds that Derrick made.

Both boys have grown and changed so much this year. Scott is 4 1/2 and is growing tall. I am schooling him at home this year and we are enjoying spending so much time together as a family. I love to see how he grasps new concepts. He is an inquisitive little boy with a great memory and loves "treasure hunting" with his Daddy. He is my child that is most likely to find a penny (or quarter!) on the ground.

Andrew is 2 1/2 and is full of energy. He is our little warrior. Everything he picks up (from a stick to a candy cane) becomes a sword. He told me today that he was holding a sword to "protect us from the robbers." He has a great imagination and can turn ordinary objects into amazing things. His food often becomes a "crane" or "airplane" or "truck". A few weeks ago, he introduced "Roger" into his conversation. Derrick and I wonder if that is his imaginary friend.

Derrick is still teaching fifth grade at the same school. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with the kids and watch them change daily.

We hope all of you have a blessed 2009!