When you're day starts with coughing and puke, you just know it's not going to get much better. Brooks and Canaan have had a cold for a few days now. No fever, just that coughing with snotty nose and all around whineyness. This morning Brooks was coughing so much he puked. Not just once, but 3 times. Canaan has had the same thing, but instead of the puking, I started to suspect an ear infection. He was fussing when I cleaned out his ears with a Q-tip yesterday evening.
So I call the doctor. Our normal family doctor wasn't in today. He's actually moving away come December, so I decided it was a good time to try someone new. Dr. Davis had only one opening. Of course, given the way my morning went, the one open slot would be smack in the middle of nap time. *GROAN* Oh well, better than tomorrow when you have two sick whining kids.
Mistake 1 - Thinking it'd be better to go today and not tomorrow. (with no fever and possibly a mild ear infection... would one day really matter?)
Mistake 2 - Going today when there's no time to find a sitter for Lianna, and therefore taking all 3 kids with me.
Mistake 3 - Not taking anything to keep the kids occupied in case this new waiting room didn't have any toys.
It really wasn't THAT bad. It could always be worse right? I wake up the children 45 min after I put them down. We arrive shortly after 2:00. I begin unbuckling both Lianna and Brooks and the latter has another coughing fit. He eventually gags, throws up, and I look for anything to halfway wipe him up before we finish unloading. Oh good, a fast food napkin. That should suffice. We manage to get inside the doctors office without anyone running away, or heading for the street. While filling out paperwork inside (cause it's a new doctor) I try to keep my children from knocking over the fish aquarium in the corner, or coughing on the other people patiently waiting with us. About 20 minutes into our wait, I start to smell a stench coming from my older son's direction. I wait about 5 more minutes hoping we'll be called in to see the doctor soon. No such luck. I ask the receptionist and the directs me to an empty exam room. When I finish changing we follow the nurse. She proceeds to weigh Brooks and gestures towards a new examining room. After taking Canaan out of his car seat the nurse walks out of the room and heads to the baby scale where we're to weigh him. I quickly decide better to shut the two big kids in the exam room, than have them running around the office getting into who knows what. Wow! Canaan has gained 2 pounds in one month! Back to the exam room and both children are alive, and haven't broken anything.
In hopes to shorten an already long story, I'll just sum up mine and Dr. Davis's conversation. He exams the boys, says they have a viral chest cold, and I was indeed correct in thinking Canaan had an ear infection. He prescribes the necessary meds and the children and I head out to pay our bill. I manage to barely keep Brooks from dialing a long distance call on one of their office phones, keep Lianna from putting on a strange cowboy hat found on a bench, and wipe both sets of sticky fingers. (Dr. Davis was wise enough to give both big kids their lollipops early so he and I could discuss his diagnosis and treatment for both boys) I was pleasantly surprised when the receptionist said they were only going to charge me one copay when both boys were seen. Thank God for the little things. I took everyone home and put the boys to bed. Another blessing, they both went back to sleep and finished their naps. *Sigh* What a day.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
It's that time of year again
Oh yes, I've decided to do what I can to make up for the lost time. It's gotta count for something right?
Not only is it NaBloPoMo, it's also hunting season. I knew it was coming, he warned me, but I still found myself unprepared. So Saturday morning is the big day. I have a shoot at 11am and he says "that's perfect! I'll go in the morning before your shoot, and in the evening after! Thanks for working that out just right honey. " *GRIN*
Saturday morning arrives and I awake, alone in our bed. My son walks in (the one who can walk ;) ) and says "daddy". I just tell him daddy's gone hunting and pull him into bed with me for a little company. He eventually gets restless, and we head to the kitchen for some breakfast. While going about our morning routine, I get a phone call. It goes something like this:
He says: Good morning
I say: Hey handsome
He says: How are you?
I say: good, how are you?
He says: I'm Reeeallly good
I say: You didn't did you? On the first day? Wow... um... you remember I have a shoot right?
He says: It was an 8 point. I knew it'd have to be a good one if I was going to get in trouble with you.
I say: So you're still going to be back at 10 am right? I gotta get ready for the shoot.
He says: I don't know, I'll try, but we still gotta clean and dress it.
10:00 comes and goes. I end up taking the kids to him while he finishes up. I go on to my shoot and when I return he's still there. I will admit that he's still there mainly because I took both sets of keys with me, but can you blame me? The morning was SO NOT going as planned.
Ah, the life of a hunter's wife.
Not only is it NaBloPoMo, it's also hunting season. I knew it was coming, he warned me, but I still found myself unprepared. So Saturday morning is the big day. I have a shoot at 11am and he says "that's perfect! I'll go in the morning before your shoot, and in the evening after! Thanks for working that out just right honey. " *GRIN*
Saturday morning arrives and I awake, alone in our bed. My son walks in (the one who can walk ;) ) and says "daddy". I just tell him daddy's gone hunting and pull him into bed with me for a little company. He eventually gets restless, and we head to the kitchen for some breakfast. While going about our morning routine, I get a phone call. It goes something like this:
He says: Good morning
I say: Hey handsome
He says: How are you?
I say: good, how are you?
He says: I'm Reeeallly good
I say: You didn't did you? On the first day? Wow... um... you remember I have a shoot right?
He says: It was an 8 point. I knew it'd have to be a good one if I was going to get in trouble with you.
I say: So you're still going to be back at 10 am right? I gotta get ready for the shoot.
He says: I don't know, I'll try, but we still gotta clean and dress it.
10:00 comes and goes. I end up taking the kids to him while he finishes up. I go on to my shoot and when I return he's still there. I will admit that he's still there mainly because I took both sets of keys with me, but can you blame me? The morning was SO NOT going as planned.
Ah, the life of a hunter's wife.
In The Know
Are you? I guess I'm not as much as I thought I was. Wow! Did you know November was NaBloPoMo? I mean... how do you even pronounce that? I'm already 4 days behind. How will I ever make up for this? Do you think posting twice in a day will make up for the lost time? Thank goodness I have a friend who is or I would never be!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Molding
Everyday I realize more and more, how God is using my children to shape me into the woman He wants me to become. Before my children were born I prayed for diligence. Diligence I felt I needed to do all the tasks I should have been doing instead of whatever else I found to do that was more fun. Now that 5 people live in this little 1400 sq foot house I have a lot of that diligence. Once baby #3 was born, something inside me clicked. The wall started to close in on me, and I decided I wanted a new house. After some soul searching, I realized it was because I didn't want to clean the one I had. Ha! Well, now that I'm a little more organized around here, I find it utterly frustrating to have dishes in the sink or small toys on the floor. I hate stepping around couch pillows that are strewn about the carpet. I have always had a love affair with a newly made bed. I love to slip into bed and barely disturb the covers. Not because I hated to make the bed, but because I loved the feeling of the crisp sheets tucked in around me. So tell me... why did God provide me with a husband who hates having the sheets tucked in? Hmmmm? He will purposefully climb into bed, and pull the sheets out so that they are loose around him. Who in their right mind!?! Well, I should be thankful that he is considerate enough to let me climb into our newly made bed first, so I can enjoy it for just a few minutes. Inevitably before long, he's pulling and tugging and undoing all that brings me joy! God is molding me right?
Sunday, September 23, 2007
What Have I Done!?!
I went to a wedding last night. While I was there I was talking with an older couple who attends our church. Their daughter and her husband are friends of ours and he's even our family doctor. Anyway, while talking breifly with this older woman I totally and completely saw my friend in her. Does that make sense? The way she laughed, the intonation in her voice, something about her smile even was so very much like her daughter (my friend). I really started thinking about how much we become like our parents. My sister will often tell me "oh, you soooo sounded like Dad just then!"
We have such an influence on our children. They pick up even little things in our humor or how we talk and laugh. They learn EVERYTHING from us! I'm really starting to wonder what God was thinking when he intrusted my 3 children to someone as irresponsible and sinful as me.
Funny example: Every morning for the past 2 years I pour milk in two sippy cups. I pull out the yellow cup and matching lid, and the purple cup and it's lid and begin to assemble them. After pouring milk in each I decide just for fun to mix match the tops. That should be fun and silly right? Wrong! My sweet easy-going daughter flips out! No Mommy! That's wrong! It doesnt match! That one doesnt go there! I dont want that top! I want the match!
What!?! You've got to be kidding me! Who would have thought something as simple as always matching sippy cup tops would cause an (excuse my french) anal retentiveness in a 3 year old. Dear Lord, what have I done!?! I made a mental note that day to do more mix matching in the future.
I now have to remind myself that I do not want my daughter to be like me. I want her to be BETTER than me. I dont want her to start dating in 7th grade. I don't want her to french kiss for the first time in 8th grade. I want her to know God and live a life that honors him from way earlier than college! I want her to know that it's good to go against the grain, to love God and NOT wear what everyone else is wearing, NOT talk like everyone else is talking, and NOT go where everyone else is going. I dont want her to be so dependent on the acceptance of others that she gives in to peer pressure so she'll feel like the belongs. Please God, let her NOT be like me!
We have such an influence on our children. They pick up even little things in our humor or how we talk and laugh. They learn EVERYTHING from us! I'm really starting to wonder what God was thinking when he intrusted my 3 children to someone as irresponsible and sinful as me.
Funny example: Every morning for the past 2 years I pour milk in two sippy cups. I pull out the yellow cup and matching lid, and the purple cup and it's lid and begin to assemble them. After pouring milk in each I decide just for fun to mix match the tops. That should be fun and silly right? Wrong! My sweet easy-going daughter flips out! No Mommy! That's wrong! It doesnt match! That one doesnt go there! I dont want that top! I want the match!
What!?! You've got to be kidding me! Who would have thought something as simple as always matching sippy cup tops would cause an (excuse my french) anal retentiveness in a 3 year old. Dear Lord, what have I done!?! I made a mental note that day to do more mix matching in the future.
I now have to remind myself that I do not want my daughter to be like me. I want her to be BETTER than me. I dont want her to start dating in 7th grade. I don't want her to french kiss for the first time in 8th grade. I want her to know God and live a life that honors him from way earlier than college! I want her to know that it's good to go against the grain, to love God and NOT wear what everyone else is wearing, NOT talk like everyone else is talking, and NOT go where everyone else is going. I dont want her to be so dependent on the acceptance of others that she gives in to peer pressure so she'll feel like the belongs. Please God, let her NOT be like me!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Nothing Important
Do you ever feel like you just don't have anything important to say? I have been racking my brain for the last few days, thinking about what I should blog about... I mean, it's been like weeks since I posted. Sometimes it's just better to leap and hope to God something good comes out.
Hey! That's not a bad analogy. Have you ever noticed that in your life?
When I look back at all the times God did something cool in my life, it's when I just decided to take a leap and trust that He'd provide a soft landing. It wasn't that long ago that Darrell and I were just barely making ends meet (ummm... like yesterday... ha!). I'm actually referring back to when we only had one kid, and I was pregnant with #2. We had a nice new Ford Escape, but it came with a pretty hefty car note, among other loans, but that was the big one we knew we could get out from under. We prayed for a while and just hoped the money would come or that it'd just work out somehow. Finally, we decided we couldn't make another payment and drove around town looking for anything we could switch it even for. We were expecting some junker since we needed to trade it in, as well as have the dealership pay off our existing loan, and still have some credit for a car of some sort. We looked all around Nacogdoches and had pretty much settled on a Ford Taurus that was kinda worn out, but worked well and would get me around town. Darrell thought it best to drive down to Lufkin just to see if there was anything else there. We drove up to the first place we saw and thought to ourselves, there's no way they'd have anything junky enough that we could afford it. They had some really nice, gently used vehicles. We got out and looked around, just in case and spied this Toyota Sienna off to the side. It didn't have a sticker on the window, but Darrell figured out through their number system (I'm still not sure I understand how, but whatever, guys get this stuff) that they were offering over 8K for it. There was no way we could afford to spend that much and still pay off the remaining balance on our Escape. A sales man stopped us on our way out (as they always do) and asked if he could help us. We told him straight up, we need to trade this Escape even for something, loan and all. He said... well... how about that Sienna over there. Ha! Next thing we knew, we were emptying out our car, and driving off into life with no car note. Ahhhhh! It was the sweetest 30 minute drive home ever.
Now we're looking at having to replace another vehicle. No, we still have no car note, but Darrell's '93 F150 has seen much better days. We bought it used in '99 shortly after we were married. We'd love to find ourselves another truck, possibly with 4 doors and a back seat that will fit our family. I know, I know... good luck! Oh but I didn't tell you the best part, we're hoping to find one we can afford to pay cash for. Ha! Now that's asking a lot of God! :D
Ephesians 3:20-21
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Hey! That's not a bad analogy. Have you ever noticed that in your life?
When I look back at all the times God did something cool in my life, it's when I just decided to take a leap and trust that He'd provide a soft landing. It wasn't that long ago that Darrell and I were just barely making ends meet (ummm... like yesterday... ha!). I'm actually referring back to when we only had one kid, and I was pregnant with #2. We had a nice new Ford Escape, but it came with a pretty hefty car note, among other loans, but that was the big one we knew we could get out from under. We prayed for a while and just hoped the money would come or that it'd just work out somehow. Finally, we decided we couldn't make another payment and drove around town looking for anything we could switch it even for. We were expecting some junker since we needed to trade it in, as well as have the dealership pay off our existing loan, and still have some credit for a car of some sort. We looked all around Nacogdoches and had pretty much settled on a Ford Taurus that was kinda worn out, but worked well and would get me around town. Darrell thought it best to drive down to Lufkin just to see if there was anything else there. We drove up to the first place we saw and thought to ourselves, there's no way they'd have anything junky enough that we could afford it. They had some really nice, gently used vehicles. We got out and looked around, just in case and spied this Toyota Sienna off to the side. It didn't have a sticker on the window, but Darrell figured out through their number system (I'm still not sure I understand how, but whatever, guys get this stuff) that they were offering over 8K for it. There was no way we could afford to spend that much and still pay off the remaining balance on our Escape. A sales man stopped us on our way out (as they always do) and asked if he could help us. We told him straight up, we need to trade this Escape even for something, loan and all. He said... well... how about that Sienna over there. Ha! Next thing we knew, we were emptying out our car, and driving off into life with no car note. Ahhhhh! It was the sweetest 30 minute drive home ever.
Now we're looking at having to replace another vehicle. No, we still have no car note, but Darrell's '93 F150 has seen much better days. We bought it used in '99 shortly after we were married. We'd love to find ourselves another truck, possibly with 4 doors and a back seat that will fit our family. I know, I know... good luck! Oh but I didn't tell you the best part, we're hoping to find one we can afford to pay cash for. Ha! Now that's asking a lot of God! :D
Ephesians 3:20-21
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Selfish Me
I feel like my children unintentionally but constantly remind of how selfish I am:
1. I find myself frustrated when my children are hanging on the computer chair and playing with the CDs and other paraphernalia (now there's a $5 word) on the desk.
2. I find myself upset that they wont be quiet while I'm watching an "grown-up" show like the news, or "Friends" reruns.
3. I get mad when wont stay out of the kitchen cabinets, my bedroom, the bathroom and other places that are off limits when I'm resting on the couch.
4. I rarely seem to have a peaceful moment alone. Even if I sneak off to the bathroom I have little feet pattering on the cold tile before I can finish. If I think to lock the door, I have at least one child crying or whining on the other side the whole time.
When I take the time to think about these many situations, I find that it's my own selfishness that brings about the frustration. Helloooooo... if you weren't on the computer, and were playing with your children instead... you wouldn't be experiencing problem #1. The same theory applies to #2 as well, why not watch a kid friendly show (again) and quit being so stinkin selfish, or just turn the TV off and go outside and again, problem solved. #3 occurs mostly when I don't get off my lazy bum. I need to remember I'm not a single college kid who can just lay around all day. My time is precious, why waste it laying around, spend it with your kids woman! You only have 2 more years before the oldest is in school full time. (oh wow, just typing it out is scary). And, well #4, I guess that's just the life of a mommy. Hopefully as they get older, they'll decide to stay out, and give me at least a moment's peace.
1. I find myself frustrated when my children are hanging on the computer chair and playing with the CDs and other paraphernalia (now there's a $5 word) on the desk.
2. I find myself upset that they wont be quiet while I'm watching an "grown-up" show like the news, or "Friends" reruns.
3. I get mad when wont stay out of the kitchen cabinets, my bedroom, the bathroom and other places that are off limits when I'm resting on the couch.
4. I rarely seem to have a peaceful moment alone. Even if I sneak off to the bathroom I have little feet pattering on the cold tile before I can finish. If I think to lock the door, I have at least one child crying or whining on the other side the whole time.
When I take the time to think about these many situations, I find that it's my own selfishness that brings about the frustration. Helloooooo... if you weren't on the computer, and were playing with your children instead... you wouldn't be experiencing problem #1. The same theory applies to #2 as well, why not watch a kid friendly show (again) and quit being so stinkin selfish, or just turn the TV off and go outside and again, problem solved. #3 occurs mostly when I don't get off my lazy bum. I need to remember I'm not a single college kid who can just lay around all day. My time is precious, why waste it laying around, spend it with your kids woman! You only have 2 more years before the oldest is in school full time. (oh wow, just typing it out is scary). And, well #4, I guess that's just the life of a mommy. Hopefully as they get older, they'll decide to stay out, and give me at least a moment's peace.
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