Well. What a weekend it was. Last week was rough with both Analise and I being sick. She wasn’t running a fever by the time Tuesday came around for Mother’s Day Out, but I didn’t feel like she should go with her cough. I was REALLY sick on Tuesday, though, and wishing desperately she was well enough to go. My wonderful mother-in-law rescued me and took Analise for the day. Whew! On Wednesday, I called a friend to cancel getting together for coffee, and when she heard I was sick, she offered to come pick Analise up to play with her daughter for a few hours to give me a break. What amazing people I have around me! Analise had a great time, and I’ll definitely have to repay that well-appreciated favor.

Wednesday, though, wore me out getting ready to host our group of 12 for home church. By the time everyone had left and the kids were in bed, I was exhausted and feeling so bad and miserable for myself. Thursday, Analise was well enough to go to school, and I thought I felt ok enough to go to my Bible Study. I went but it sure wore me out and I sounded like I shouldn’t have been there. We were all happy when Friday arrived signaling the week was almost over and we’d have Brian around to make us happy:)

But Friday afternoon, Analise woke up crying from her nap after only 45 minutes. I tried to get her back to sleep, but she’d only doze and then start crying again. I thought she was being a grumpy 2-year old, and I was kind of crabby that she’d woken Josiah up. We were supposed to go to a birthday party that evening, so I kept trying to get her to stop crying so we could go get a present at Toys ‘R Us. She’d stop for a bit, but hen start up again. It was very unlike her, but I was sure she was just being an overly tired 2-year old. I put her in time out for a bit, but she kept crying. Brian’s mom stopped by to drop something off, but even she couldn’t get Analise to be happy. They went out to play, and she’d play for a few minutes before starting to cry again. She was crying for daddy, so I called him to come home a little early. Even when he got there, she still wouldn’t stop crying and it had been 2 full hours of crying.

So finally, at 4:55, I decided maybe I should call the pediatrician’s office in case something was wrong. They got us into the after hours clinic just down the road from us at 5:45. She hadn’t been running a fever, but she started to feel warm when we got there, and sure enough, when they took her temp it was 101.5. The doctor quickly found she had a bright red bulging ear infection in BOTH ears. I feel like the WORST mom. How are you supposed to know that something’s wrong and they’re not just whining?? She never said anything hurt, and it wasn’t very much different from her usual 2-year old whining, except that it lasted for hours. I guess I’ve learned something, but I sure feel like I need some more of that “mother’s intuition”!

So Analise is feeling better now, though all of us – including Brian and Josiah – have nasty sounding coughs. Josiah came down with congestion as the week progressed. He was grumpy and needing to be held a lot this weekend, so I finally called the after hours nurse and we went in again Sunday afternoon. He’s already 14lbs! He doesn’t have an ear infection, maybe due in part to the low-dose antibiotics he takes to prevent a urinary tract infection from his reflux problems. He does have the start of bronchiolitis, though, which is a constriction of the airways from coughing. Monday was quiet and everyone rested well today, so hopefully, this week will see us all feeling better.

I’ve learned that it’s HARD work to be a mom to 2 when you’re feeling good. It’s nearly impossible when you’re sick, and you honestly have to do a lot of relying on God’s grace and patience. And I had just recently “decided” that we could “handle” normal life with 2, but when you get behind… watch out! It’s overwhelming and exhausting to catch up. Note to self and anyone else interested: When friends have child #2 (or more), offer to bring dinner to freeze and do some laundry – especially folding! You can let life pass you by, but eventually, laundry has to get taken care of. It took me ALL last week to get 4 loads folded, and just now that it’s all finally put away, I’ve got several loads waiting to be washed again. THIS is my exciting life:)

Ok, you’re caught up on our life. Above, my little jailbird boy propped up on the couch with all the pillows. Below, the two unhappy campers in the glider rocker. In the next picture, Analise found Josiah laying on the floor chewing on his thumb (he hasn’t quite found it to be good enough to suck), and she laid down next to him to suck hers. Next, Josiah’s newest way to sit in his swing. He loves his feet! Lastly, a message Brian had left for me with the fridge magnets on the kitchen floor to find when I came home from my women’s bible study. What a sweetie!

Alright, it’s been too long since you’ve seen my sweet

little ones. I’m not going to write an actual post,

otherwise this will never get posted. I’m exhausted

this evening, still fighting being sick, but I really

wanted to get these pictures up so I don’t feel so far

behind! Because i was in a hurry, please forgive the

fact that I didn’t crop or adjust any of these pictures.

First, some pictures form Grandma

Beverly’s birthday dinner last night at Macaroni Grill.

Anailse looked exceptionally cute because she’d had

school pictures taken in the morning, though you can’t

appreciate her cuteness fully in these pics, as usual!

Josiah enjoyed the dinner in his carseat, spending some

time with his newest plaything – his feet.

After dinner, we came back to our

house for a bit, and Analise brought all her friends out

to the living room couch to relax with Grandma, while

Josiah and Grandpa Tom relaxed on the couch in the

family room. I had a sweet moment on the couch with my

cuties in between baths and bedtime.

Lastly, some random pictures of

Josiahs’s ever-more-frequent smiles (though today hasn’t

been one of those days). He enjoys his jumper, although

he doesn’t enjoy it when you just set him in it and

leave him to go do something else. He also has a little

turtle that you can see in the last 3 pictures, that has

a flat, water, filled pad that he can lay on for some

tummy entertainment. I know it looks a bit like he’s

under the couch, but he’s not!

Where’d the weekend go? And where have I been for the last week and a half? Life’s been BUSY. We’ve had: Mother’s Day Out on Tuesday and Thursday, a new women’s Bible study by Beth Moore on Daniel on Thursday morning, a Tastefully Simple party last Sunday, meetings for organizing the children’s ministry at church, the usual home church on Wednesday night, getting things ready to sell at a local consignment sale, and just trying to keep up here. Analise came down with a runny nose on Friday, that escalated into a fever and a nasty cough this weekend. Even though I’ve been praying since Saturday, I woke up sick this morning and Josiah’s sneezing. AG. I hate seeing sickness spread through our family! Actually, I REALLY hate being sick and having to be mom. Hopefully, besides a trip to the doctor, we’ll have a quiet day (folding 3 loads of laundry and cleaning up a messy kitchen). I’ve got a post half-written, and I’ve got several cute pictures to post, but I thought I’d put something up so y’all don’t think we’ve fallen off the face of the earth! Hope to be back during nap time!

I’m out the door to a meeting in just half an hour, so I REALLY shouldn’t be posting this. (Should be feeding Analise breakfast, but she’s engrossed in a Pooh video so I’ve got a few minutes.) I snapped a couple great pictures of Josiah’s sweet smile this morning, and I wanted to share them. When I downloaded them from the camera I found these other cute pictures too. We’ve introduced Josiah to his Fisher Price Jumperoo, which he really enjoys. He’s a bit on the small side for it, but he does enjoy have his legs under him and boucncing and being upright. Analise has taken to using my pouch to carry her “babies”. Please forgive the fact that I didn’t crop or adjust colors – just uploaded for quick enjoyment. Have a great day – we love y’all!

Today was a first. I went shopping with both kids, by myself. I know you probably won’t believe that after nearly 3 months of being a mother of 2 I’ve not had to go out with both of them. We’ve gone to Chik-Fil-A… well, to the drive-thru. We’ve gone to Bwacka and Boppa’s. But I’ve not had to go anywhere and manage both of them. I’m really lucky that Brian’s always willing to watch one or both while I run out and do errands, or Beverly or Tom are available for me to drop one or both off for a quick trip. More likely, I head out to shop after they’re both in bed. But today I decided I was ready to test the waters. Analise starts her mother’s day out program tomorrow, and I have to find a lunch box and a clear backpack. Walmart is the obvious choice, but I really don’t like WalMart, so I thought we’d enjoy a trip to Target.

All things considered, it wasn’t that bad, at least the kids weren’t. Analise was pretty good, especially since I gave her a package of granola bites to enjoy. I used one of the HUGE child-happy carts. You know, the ones that feel like you’re driving an 18-wheeler. This one sounded like a train. It was so loud! I wasn’t sure what to do with Josiah, as he wasn’t happy in the pouch, so I put him in his carseat carrier in the basket. Now, even with the massive cart, I had very little room for stuff. All the better for my wallet:)

So we walked through the store, clogging up the aisles so people couldn’t get around us. You could hear us on the other side of the store. Anyway, there were no clear backpacks. And no plastic lunch boxes. ARG. And to top it all off, the one other thing on my list was string cheese, which scanned at $3.99/pkg rather than the $1.66 I thought it was. Needless to say, I wasn’t paying $8.00 for string cheese, so I didn’t get it. The cashier wasn’t willing to go check the price, and when I pushed me big rig over there to check myself (after we had finished checking out), I was the one in the wrong. All in all, a frustrating trip, though not because of the little ones.

I hate that I prefer Target to Walmart so much, and I keep TRYING to go there for my stuff, only to have bad experiences. Last time I was in there I was 9+ months pregnant, trying to get Analise a tricycle. Not in stock, had to stand in line for 15 minutes to get a raincheck, this after walking through the whole store. I thought I was going to go into labor for sure. Then a plastic bin I was buying had a broken lid, and the cashier said I could go get another lid. Are you kidding me? As hugely pregnant as I was, I was NOT going to the back of the store. I asked if she could get someone to get it for me. No, she said without calling anyone, we’re too busy and I’m sure there’s no one available. Such customer service!

Anyway, it’s a normal day here. Samford doesn’t have the day off, so Brian had class and we’re just hanging out here. Tonight, though, is our “in-house” date night. For the last couple weeks, we’ve been enjoying an hour of “us” time from 9-10 after the kids go to bed. At 8:30, one of us goes out for nice coffee drinks, and we have a good time together. It’s been really nice to have that to look forward to. Seems like “us” can get lost in the daily grind and the busyness of taking care of kids and life. Hope you’ve had a good Labor Day!