RSV

This sad faced little man was just diagnosed with RSV. Usually that acronym strikes fear in the hearts of any momma hearing that diagnosis. But thankfully Will is almost 10 months old and he's a big boy, so he can totally handle this without a hospital visit. 

This morning when he woke up, his cough was so bad and his nose was so junky, I just decided to take him the doctor for a follow up visit. The big kids are getting better and Will is barely better, so I felt like something wasn't quite right. I'm glad we went and I'm thankful to have an answer to "why" he isn't improving like I thought he should. 

RSV can take awhile to clear up. In fact, it can take up to 3 weeks to completely go away. Please join me in asking Jesus to clear up Will's lungs much faster than that!!!!

Medicine Man

Christian hates medicine. Ryan and I have said many times that it's almost like he has some psychological, irrational fear of medicine. He will start gagging before the medicine ever touches his mouth. The thought of medicine makes him wither into a puddle of sobbing tears on the floor. And don't think for one second that you can pull a fast one on him and hide medicine in any variety of food. He will immediately call your bluff and throw up. We've held him down and forced medicine down his throat and he promptly spits it out or vomits. We've tried rewards...like really awesome rewards. We've tried discipline. We've tried prayer. We've tried to teach him to swallow pills. We've tried EVERYTHING.

Our pediatrician even knows about Christians phobia. He has given Christian a choice before about taking medicine orally or getting a shot and every time Christian chooses the shot. Insanity I tell you! 

So when Christian got a prescription for an antibiotic that was supposed to be given twice a day for 10 days, I shuddered. How on earth were we going to do this?? I pretty much have zero tolerance or patience for this kind of drama. And mean mommy usually makes an appearance rather quickly. But since it was Christmas and all I decided to be indifferent and be firm but not feed into the drama.The first day it took 2 hours to get one dose in him. We mixed it with orange juice and told him not to get up from the table until it was gone. Two hour later he finished it.  

But we worked on it all week and a mini-miracle took place in our house. And I'm not using the word miracle lightly. Check out the video we made for daddy. We had to record it because otherwise Ryan would not have believed it. I also documented it so I can show it to Christian the next time he has to take medicine.

While we're on the subject of medicine (I know, I know, this topic is riveting isn't it??) I have one more story to share.

 Will has had a rough time this week taking his medicine. He's gotten sick a few times because he can't stand the taste of medicine. So earlier this week I was getting ready to give Will his meds. and I told McKenna to start praying that he wouldn't get sick. She sat there and prayed and he didn't get sick. Every time since then, twice a day, either Christian or McKenna stand by and pray for Will when he takes him medicine. 

So how are we doing?? Better. You still wouldn't want to have your kids around mine, but we're getting there. I'm still worried about Will. He sounds like a purring kitty every time he breathes. It's worrisome. I'm hoping for a good nights sleep for both of us. Keep praying for him.

Little Readers

Christian is such a good big brother. He takes his "job" with Will very seriously and their relationship is precious. Will adores Christian. His face smiles every time he looks at him. I love this picture of them reading together.

My Life

Yesterday I asked my mom is she ever remembered a time when my siblings and I were as sick as my kids are right now. She said that at some point we probably were but she didn't remember it and neither would I. I assured her that I would in fact remember it, because I would blog it. Maybe I shouldn't blog it because I'm not sure I want to remember this at all.


But it's life. And there are moments that aren't so pretty and that's just the way it is. So if you want a little window into what our life has been like lately, here goes.....


Ryan sat at Urgent Care on Monday (the only place opened) for 3 hours waiting for our turn. Work is stressful enough for him right now (he's in the middle of relocating his entire distribution center to a new hub an hour away) and this just topped it off. But he's a good daddy, so he did it.

I was one second away from jumping in the shower today for the first time in days, when I heard Will crying on the baby monitor. I almost cried. I just wanted one moment to myself. That didn't happen.

Christian threw up right after he drank an entire glass of chocolate milk. I know, I know...it was all I could do to keep it together. And of course he threw up right on the rug in the kitchen. It's surrounded by hardwood floors, but nope, it all landed right on the rug. I threw the rug outside and will deal with that later. I wonder how long it will sit out there?

Literally 5 minutes after Christian's episode, Will threw up all over himself and me. McKenna started screaming and crying because I used one of her shirts that just happened to be sitting there to wipe it up. It was lovely.

Oh and I almost forgot...McKenna called 911 last night on purpose. She wanted to see what would happen. When they answered she started screaming and crying and didn't say anything because she was afraid she was going to get in trouble. She just sat there screaming while holding the phone. Can you imagine what they were thinking??  Thankfully I ran in the room to find out what was wrong and she handed me the phone. I've been letting her play with my old cell phone and even though it doesn't have a service plan you can still call 911 on it. I knew this and had specifically told her never to call 911, but my curious girl did anyway. Nice.

Christmas Eve - Grammy & Grampy's Surprise

 What a surprise it was when the mailman knocked on our door on Christmas Eve with an enormous box! The kids were beyond excited to find out that huge box contained surprises from Ryan's parents in Illinois!

 Christian went first and loved his pitching machine Grampy picked out for him. He can't wait to be able to practice baseball all by himself! Notice McKenna's face in the bottom left picture. I love how excited she gets for her brother. When she saw it was something baseball, she was so excited for him.

 Then it was McKenna's turn. As soon as she opened her package she said, "What? Crackers? Grammy sent me crackers. Didn't she know I wanted a good surprise?" Ha!!! It was so funny. We could not stop laughing. She was not happy about those crackers, especially since Christian had just opened such a cool present.

 So we told her to try looking inside the cracker box and she was thrilled to find an adorable outfit that she had to immediately put on and wear for the rest of the night!!! So cute. I love it.

Everyone helped Will open his present and McKenna was the first to try it out. I've never seen such an adorable rocking horse. It's the Toy Story horse and it talks. It's really close to the ground, which is so nice for him at this age. He still can't quite do it on his own, but he's close. Such a big boy.

We miss our Illinois family so much. 

We missed them at Thanksgiving and we always think of them on Christmas Eve because that's when the whole family gets together and we know we're missing out on a good time. This year Ryan did get a few texts & pictures during the family gathering, which was nice.

Thanks Grammy & Grampy for making Christmas Eve so fun for the kids.

And thanks again for the yummy fruit you sent our family from Harry & David! It's almost all gone :)  Christian ate most of the oranges. McKenna loves the apples and I think those might be some of the best pears I've ever had! We love you guys!!

Words for Wednesday

Would you please pray for us.... UPDATED

The Update:
Thank you , thank you for praying. Around 3am I felt like Will started to get a little better and in that moment the Lord reminded me that people were praying. Thank you.
I think Will and McKenna had that stomach virus that was going around because they are both so much better today. Their fevers are gone. Their appetites are back. I think they just got hit with a stomach virus and a bunch of other stuff on top of it and it made for a very bad situation.
McKenna just screams and screams when she feels like throwing up. And Will was so miserable because he was too little to understand what was going on. Someone held him for 24 hours straight. That was fun.
Thank goodness my mom came over yesterday and Ryan came home from work early. It literally took all three of us to take care of the three kids. It was that bad. It's the sickest my kids have ever been.
So today the plan is to take it easy, clean up Christmas a little, get every drop of Christian's medicine in him (this is no small feat) and start clorox wiping EVERYTHING!! I got a new steam mop for Christmas and I can't wait to use it :)

A trip to Urgent Care today determined that:

Will has an ear infection, a sinus infection and a stomach bug. He has a high fever and is so lathargic. He's on the edge of being dehydrated. I'm doing everything in my power to avoid a hospital visit, but it might be necessary in the morning if things don't change.

McKenna has an ear infection, sinus infection, strep throat, pink eye and maybe a stomach bug or maybe she's just throwing up because her body is so sick. Pray that I can get her antibiotic in her and that she'll keep it down.

Christian has a sinus infection STILL after being on an antibiotic for 5 days. He's miserable but the least of my worries.

I am beyond exhausted.

December 23rd - Christian's Christmas

 On December 23rd we celebrated "Christian's Christmas." Christian's school has a Santa's Secret shop where the kids can buy presents for their families. Christian worked for over a month to earn $16 to take to Santa's Secret Shop. He could hardly wait to go shopping for our family. Grandmom volunteered at school the day Christian went and she said he put a lot of thought into the presents he chose.  Since it was such a big deal, we decided to let him give his gifts a little early. I didn't want the things he chose to get lost in the shuffle of Christmas morning. As it turns out, this night ended up being one of my favorite moments of Christmas.

Christian gave Will a giant bouncy ball! He LOVED it!!!

He gave me a covered baking pan. The perfect gift for me. Of course he insisted that I use it that night.

He gave Ryan some men's bath gel.

And then there was McKenna's present. He chose a Disney Princess school set for McKenna. It had princess pencils, paper, pencil sharpener and princess folders. She was so excited to open her present and I was so nervous that she would react appropriately. Earlier in the week Christian worked hard to make McKenna a "necklace." It was made out of paper and she flat out told him that she didn't like it and she wouldn't wear it. He was heartbroken and cried. So guess who got to wear the paper necklace for a day??? Me. 

I was really hoping she would love his gift and she did. Just look at her face. But look at the bottom LEFT picture....look at Christian's face. He was watching her carefully and he was so pleased that she liked it. I love that picture. Then of course she gave him a tackle hug :)

It was the most precious family night. We ordered out pizza and ate in the dinning room, which is always a sign it's a special night. I can't wait for "Christian's Christmas" next year!

My Facebook Status on Christmas Day

"It's a good thing it's all really about JESUS because this day has included 1 kid throwing up, 3 kids with major fevers, 1 massive nose bleed, 4 battles over meds, some presents still unopened and to top it off I drilled through my thumb nail with the screwdriver tip of the drill (I know! What on earth?? Stupid toy assembly). So here's to JESUS!! So thankful he's my savior. I've talked to him more today than I have any other Christmas! So thankful he came so I can turn to Him when things aren't so great."

Merry Christmas

Snuggle Time

Not the best pictures...but the moment was sweet. I adore being snuggled up in my bed with all three kids. I love the bottom right picture of Will peeking over at Ryan taking a picture while the other two are listening to me read them a Christmas story.

Cookies with Grandmom

 

I'm so thankful my mom handles this messy tradition with my kids! I can remember doing this as a child every single year, so I'm thankful my mom continues the tradition with my kids.

Playtime

Will LOVES playing with Christian and McKenna!!!

The things they put him through....

Christmas Crafting Party!

Sometimes I surprise myself and come up with decent crafts. Look at that ornament. I'm impressed. It used to be a plain glass ball. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It's so pretty and sparkly and all the sparkles are on the inside so it's not messy and won't ever loose it's sparkle. The best part.... it's soooo easy to make! Alright, I found all the details HERE ,just act super surprised and amazed if I ever give you one of the ornaments as a present. Later I monogrammed them with the kids initials with a paint pen. Super cute.

We had a few friends over to make a few crafts. Christmas trees!

And snowmen made out of an egg carton.

 

The glue and the creativity were flowing.....

 

Then things got a little crazy! That girl of mine sure does have a personality!

Happy Birthday Jesus Party!!!

 We love to celebrate Jesus! And we love having friends who come over and eat frozen pizza and apple sauce! ha! This time I spent my prep time on crafts and games and didn't worry about the food too much. That's my kind of party!

 We've been celebrating Jesus' birthday with these friends since Christian was two. I think that first year we had a total of  five kids between the three families. This year we have nine!! We always make some sort of edible craft. This year we made Christmas trees out of ice cream cones. Fun & messy!!

 

I think Ellie & Kate are babysitters in the making! Will loved them!!

 This is the one time a year the dads all get to hang out.

McKenna and Gwennie always have a wild time. I have no idea why they have their hands in the air :) They're just goofy!!

I think this is one of the best traditions ever. An easy way to focus on the TRUE meaning of the season!

A Cousin Christmas

Welcome to the world's longest blog post:

Last weekend all our Brinkley cousins came to town!

McKenna was pretty much beside herself with JOY that she was finally going to get to see Abby. 

Notice how they're matching! That was McKenna's idea.

It was such a treat to see Adam (my brother Tim's son). He is the same age as Christian, so they have a blast together.

McKenna taught the girls some of her dance moves. I tell you what I have the sweetest nieces in the world! They are so patient and loving towards McKenna. Every single one of them loves Jesus and they are all the perfect role models for McKenna to look up to.

Everyone had dinner at my house on Friday night. Then 9 of the 11 cousins spent the night.

The next morning everyone tolerated my mini photo shoots:)

Emma on the left, Charis in the middle, Sophie on the right and Abby in the front.

And here's the entire Marshall/Wise family! 

Isn't this the best picture?? They are a beautiful family even if Nate is grossly out numbered!!!!

Elizabeth, Adam and Hannah!

Then we loaded up in the car and headed over to my parents house. It took us four vehicles to get there!

We played our crazy mitten game and the winner of that game got to open the first Christmas present. Christian won!

Love her and miss her all the time.

Adam gave Christian a bottle rocket! Oh the extreme excitement when he opened that gift!

Nate started to open his new night vision goggles, while Christian continued to admire his prized rocket.

Nate is so cute, he actually thanked the Lord for his presents :)

Then everyone else went to town opening their presents.

Will even opened his very first present ever. It was a monkey snow hat. So cute.

Mimi loves her boy!!!

Then it was time to head out into the frigid temps to shoot off the rocket.

Time to eat. My mom worked very hard to fit all 19 of us around the table.

Yum.

New toys are always so exciting!

And so are pretend earrings.

The Brinkley kids were thrilled that I was once again attempting to take their picture.

Will was a fan favorite.

I'm so glad Uncle Tim was finally able to meet Will. I think Will loved him.

The girls played some games.

And then it was pretty much time for everyone to head home. It was a great weekend, just way too short. We are just so thankful we had this special time together!