Midway March

Okay some Random Thoughts as we reach the halfway point of the month of March....

YIKES! Have you looked to your left! I log onto my blog and get a little scared at the small number of days until I'm due!!!! So many things left to be done but at the same time I am more at peace with the arrival of this one than any others. With #3 I was PANICKED that I'd be able to work her into our life and I just know that #4 will find a way to work it's way into things. I'm so excited to meet HIM or HER!!!


This is a shot of what the end of my day often looks like. It was time for dinner and time for my kids to get up to the table, their response to my request was getting into these costumes and coming downstairs. Yup, I've lost all control and power over these 3--and they know it!! Mommy's tired, too tired to be the enforcer. But aren't they cute?!?

STOMACH FLU, MOMMY MOMENTS, & TENDER MERCIES

So this past Monday night/Tuesday morning Lindsey woke up with a bit of a stomach bug. She threw up 3 times between 4:30 and 6:00am. Had a bout of diarrhea later in the morning, didn't eat for a couple days but other than that was fine. (thanks to my Dad for watching Lindsey on Tuesday morning while we took the ONLY appointment available for a few days with Sam's GI specialist--in retrospect I know why I felt such an urgency to get to that appointment)

But then I had one of those MOMMY MOMENTS that keep you humble....our van's AC hadn't been working for a couple weeks. I knew I needed to take it in to have it looked at and hadn't gotten to it until this past week. I made an appointment at the dealership and felt impressed to pack for a long haul visit (SUPER GLAD I DID) we show up for our 9:30 appointment, it will take an hour just to have a diagnostic test run (and $130--WHAT to run a test---don't even get me started). At 10:30 I'm given the news that a tinny-tiny rock hit and ruined our air compressor and it needs to be completely replaced (cha-ching$$$) and it would take until 1:00 to have it fixed because of how they have to take apart our van. Good thing I packed an almost lunch sized snack for my kids. What's better Lindsey who hadn't eaten in a day and a half showed interest in food and was eating. We were nearing the end of our visit when all of a sudden...Lindsey PUKED in the children's play area, and all over a toy that had to be thrown away. It got all over her, some on me and on the floor! I used up nearly all the wipes I had, was mortified for the children who had been playing with my kids and those who unknowingly would play there over the next few days. I notified the employees who were very kind and understanding. I just wanted to crawl into a hole!

Later that afternoon at about 4:15 Sam came to me telling me his stomach hurt. I was ushering him to the bathroom when he projectile vomited all the way down the hall and all over the bathroom. It was everywhere. He began some pretty violent vomiting every 15-20 minutes for the next 6 hours, was running a fever and while he would sleep, would be woken up by his need to get more up. We got him a blessing but for the next 48 hours his stomach was pretty weak. So his episodes subsided around 10:30, but we were sleeping together in the family room. Stephen and I had decided to tag team to allow us each to get a few hours of sleep.

At 2:30am I got up to take my turn in my bed only to hear a crying Kaitlyn upstairs. She'd had a bout of diarrhea and her 3 hour bout of violent vomiting was about to begin. So I had a day with basically no sleep! She also spent the next 48 hours not eating, weak stomach and fever. She missed her back to school night (I dutifully went and took pictures of many things--we'll scrapbook a special page of it together). But by Saturday morning (Friday afternoon really) we were all 100%.

Want to know what the TENDER MERCY was? I didn't get it. I prayed almost constantly that I would not get this bug, it would have been dangerous for me at this point in my pregnancy, could quite possibly have put me into labor and let's be honest, if I go down this household would cease to function. The Lord truly blesses Moms, I know it.

But my mother however didn't receive such a tender mercy. She was such my saving grace coming over to help me for a few hours on both Wed and Thurs while we washed sheets, cleaned out bowls, and sanitized my home. She even went grocery shopping for me so that I didn't have to find a way to do that without my kids. I would not have survived this last week without her-- and she woke up on Friday morning with her own strain of this virus--talk about taking one for the team! Thanks MOM!

And thanks to my super-duper visiting teacher Hillary for the fabulous fajitas she brought Stephen and I on Thursday night (my kids had crackers and applesauce--not as exciting). It was such a relief not to have to cook! Thanks for serving me! Glad I let you!