wrestling.

Lawson was pretending that Marley was a coyote.

And apparently... you sit on and wrestle with coyotes.

I think the coyote won. She also kept stealing his gloves.

daddy's girl.

still sick.

She now has an ear infection and pneumonia to go along with the RSV.

But at least there's a little bit of sparkle back in these eyes...

They gave her an anti-biodic shot yesterday and started her on new meds today. Still doing breathing treatments and keeping track of how much she eats. She went from 12# 11oz. on Wednesday to 12# 7 oz. on Friday. She needs 12 oz. of formula or Pedialyte a day to keep from getting dehydrated. Her O2 level was still good, so as long as we can keep her eating at least 12 oz, she can stay out of the hospital.

She's sleeping pretty good... when she's being held. So Corey and I aren't sleeping the greatest. It reminds me of another little girl that was sick and was only comfortable when she was being held. Our couch and the recliner in our bedroom are much more comfortable than that hard hospital rocking chair.

She's still sick... but she is much more comfortable. Some of her sparkle is back and we are seeing more smiles and personality.

And... she found her feet.

snow.

So our superintendent is not a real popular guy right now.
We've gotten a good 7 inches of snow at this point.
And it's coming down strong.

I remembered that Gretchen has a doctor's appointment right after school and that I had parked Corey's truck on the bad side of the parking lot for trying to get out quickly. I just ran outside to move it to the other side of the parking lot. My jeans are wet up to my shins and my shoes are soaked. And I seriously had to take a couple tries at backing up the truck (the big truck) to get it over the drift that was behind it.

Teachers who have been out and about say the roads are getting pretty bad.
Kids are absolutely crazy.
I was up until 2 am with Gretchen, so I'm running on 4 hours of sleep.

So glad to be at school today.

tired.

I'm so tired.

A 12 hour school day was not what I needed today.

I just put a sleeping baby down in her bouncy seat.

She's no longer asleep.

Praying she falls back to sleep soon.

Praying she sleeps more tonight than she did last night.

Praying that I sleep more tonight than I did last night.

Praying that she starts eating more and breathing better.

Praying that the predicted 5-10 inches of snow might actually earn us a well deserved snow day.

I really need a snow day.

rsv.

Poor sad baby.

Doing breathing treatments, Tylenol and alternating formula and Pedialyte.

Lots of holding and snuggling.

Oxygen level is good, so we just need to keep her from getting dehydrated.

Please pray for this sweet little baby.

I miss her smiles and sparkly eyes.

feeding geese.

teamwork.

two wheels.

Guess what Sophie learned today?

We had a few collisions (she was wearing her helmet at the beginning). And there were lots of tears and drama. (Did you expect anything else?)

But once it finally clicked, there were so many smiles. So proud of herself.

My favorite picture of the day... love this girl.

Love this little man, too.

And this little miss...

new shoes.

Guess what Sophie learned how to do?

Funny... mommy's been showing her how for quite awhile. But mommy doesn't know anything.

Daddy showed her how... and she learned in one night.

Although the new shoes (that she bought with her own Christmas money) might have helped with the motivation a little bit.

bummed.

I could have worn sweats to school today.

Sweats!

And I forgot.

So bummed.

It was "Wellness Wednesday."

We all were given papers earlier this year, asking us to make a goal to "change one thing" this year. We had to write what we wanted to change... why... and how it would positively affect our health.

I said I would lose weight.

I've already lost 20 pounds in the last 3 months. Pretty good, huh? :)

(Guess how old Gretchen is today?)

So bummed. I really could have used a sweats day.

fyi... the remaining "Wellness Wednesdays" are now written on my calendar.

I will not forget again.

3 months.

smiles.

Not the best pictures... my focus was off. Guess that can happen when you don't actually look at the camera while you're shooting. But still... I thought the smiles were pretty sweet.

slurped.

Got all my blog posts and pictures slurped for my blog book tonight.

(Corey hates the word slurped)

924 pictures.

Now to start designing the book...

today.

"Mrs. Jones... last night, I was puking a whole bunch in the toilet... and I ended up falling asleep in the bathroom!"

Lovely.
Thank you so much for being here today.

friends.

Feeling very blessed by some super sweet friends today.

In the short time that I was sick, I had so many offers to help.

* Jody brought Sophie home from school yesterday, then called later and offered to pick her this morning. (and bring her home again)

* Renee gave Lawson a little extra love and attention at pre-school yesterday when he was sad about mommy being sick.

* Amy D. offered to wash my hair for me... because she knows it makes me happy.

*Christie offered to help with anything for my substitute at school.

* Danielle offered to bring me Sprite and chicken noodle soup before she went to work today.

* Sarajane offered to throw a 2 liter of 7-Up on my porch when she came to town for storytime. (She didn't want my germs.) :)

* Jessi offered to give Gretchen a bath.

Thank you, sweet friends.

You are all the best.

24 hours.

It appears to have been just a 24 hour bug.

Thank goodness.

And thank you for all the sweet well wishes.

I honestly can't remember the last time I took a sick day for myself.

Much less two days in a row.

I felt much better this morning when I woke up.

Probably would have been fine at school today.

But... I had already called in for a sub and made plans last night when my strawberry smoothie made it's reappearance. :)

Probably should have been somewhat productive today, but I'm guessing that the entire day spent relaxing on the couch isn't going to hurt me any.

And it's probably not going to happen again for a very long time.

gretchie.

Seriously bummed that I had to keep my distance from this little one tonight.

So in love with that little face.

sick.

I'm down.

Home today with yucky flu-stuff.

Started getting around for school this morning, but ended up calling my principal for a sub.

I was having to concentrate way too hard on not throwing up.

Finished sub plans, got back home to do Sophie's hair and finish getting kiddos out the door. (So lucky that Corey can go in late at times like this.)

Got him and the kids out the door and 3 minutes later I was kneeling over the toilet.

Lots of fun.

I don't get sick very often. I rarely take sick days for myself. (Which is a good thing. Since I used up all my leave time with Miss Gretchen, I'm thinking that staying home today is going to end up costing us a couple hundred from my paycheck. ) But pausing at various times during the middle of the day to go throw up wouldn't have worked out too well.

Feeling a little perkier since my sweet hubby hooked me up with ibuprofen, Gatorade and toast when he was home at lunch. I've ventured out of bed to the couch. Haven't kneeled at the thone for a few hours. But thinking I better rest up a little before my crew comes home in 2 hours.

Boo for sick days.

And boo for the fact that even despite all this, I'm still looking around thinking, "I should at least be doing some laundry or something!"

Mommies shouldn't be allowed to get sick.

still here.

We're still here.

All doing well.

Everyone's healthy.

Gretchie's still cute.

Mommy's just really tired.

And frustrated with iPhoto.

But mainly just tired.

little miss.

From her head...

to her toes...

We simply adore this little miss.

just two.

Corey had to go play farmer this weekend. (Which isn't very fun with lots and lots of snow, dead batteries and frozen well pipes, apparently.) He was leaving around noon on Friday and wouldn't be back until Sunday later afternoon. At the last minute we ended up sending Sophie with him and he dropped her off at my parent's house.

She was thrilled and I managed to put a positive spin on it so Lawson didn't feel left out that he didn't get to go. (He's pretty easy, actually. I only had to promise we would make cookies.) Sophie is having a blast and is getting thoroughly spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa, I'm sure. And this little man and I are having lots of fun together...

We've baked cookies, watched movies, read books, gone to McDonalds and have done lots of snuggling. He has done a great job of playing alone and entertaining himself, too. (Which is nice, because Gretchen is here, too.) Part of that is because I have let him play in Sophie's room with some of her new toys. ("I won't tell Sophie. Ok, mommy?")

What's really amazing to me is how quiet it seems with only two kids.

How relaxing.

Funny how quickly things change.