Life right now

What we're up to today:

Me: I am sick with the worst sore throat I have had in memory, a fever last night, stuffy head, etc. So late last night I had to cancel my plans for this afternoon to volunteer as an escort for a child at a fashion show hosted by a local pediatric therapy center. I was paired with "Trenton," who I've never met and I don't know what kind of special needs he has, but I certainly didn't want to get him sick. So instead I'm sitting on the couch watching Nick Jr. and it's obvious I can't find much to do since I'm updating the blog. :) It was really just a matter of time before I got sick, with as little sleep as I've been getting and various bugs going around. This week I had my second meeting with the Commonwealth Council on Developmental Disabilities. (I went to one in May, missed the one in August because it was on Bo's birthday, and thankfully this one was held in Louisville so I didn't have to travel for it.) I'm not quite up to speed just yet, but it's a super interesting group to be a part of.

Blake: He has not gotten sick yet, but it's really just a matter of time. Which is unfortunate because, like most men, he's kind of a baby when he's sick. (You know it's true, babe.) Anyway, I am always so thankful that Blake has found a job that he loves and also that he is really great at. (He is in home loans, mostly refi's.) Last week he was rewarded with getting a personal assistant to help him be even more successful. I'm proud of him! And last week he was among the top 10 producers at his office who were invited to dinner with the vice president of the company and some other big wigs. I'm proud of him!

Nate: He has been sick this week too, but I think he's on the upswing. He missed 3 days of school due to a consistent and sometimes high (103.8!) fever. I took him to the doctor twice because I'm paranoid about pneumonia, but his lungs were clear and I have to remember that he hasn't been hospitalized with pneumonia since he was 3. Maybe we have outgrown his preemie lung issues now. He was a tough little guy this week and handled being sick better than I am.

In other news, I've recently been a little concerned about whether he is making friends at school. I told him he could invite one of his friends for a play date, and he chose the little girl who sits next to him. He asked her, and I sent a note home to her parents, but I haven't heard from them and now the little girl has been mysteriously moved to another table. Maybe just a coincidence. Maybe she doesn't want to invite a boy over to play. And last night Nate told us there was a little boy at school who said Nate couldn't come to his birthday party, where they are going to shoot BB guns (?!) because it's too dangerous for Nate. Of course my mommy heart gets all hurt, more than Nate's does, and all we know is Nate's side of the story. Last night Blake and I were talking about what to "do" about this (because we always have to "do" something). Blake and I struggled with this before he was born. What if he doesn't have any friends? What if he is made fun of? Well, then he was born and we saw how awesome he is. And we realized that we were both made fun of as kids and when that happened, all we could control was how we reacted to it. So our "plan" is to give Nate a home life that is as stable as possible, love him unconditionally, and work intentionally to give him the self confidence to handle life's certain rejections. And we pray that Nate (and Georgia and Bo, as well as Blake and I) will be blessed with a few good friends in his life. For good measure, we give him opportunities to make friends at Cub Scouts, Bible study, SBAK playgroups, church, etc. Oh, and we had a long talk about how even though that little boy invited everyone but Nate to his party, if we had a party, we would still invite that little boy because it's the right thing to do. :)

Georgia: My girl is sick with me today. She woke up with a fever this morning. She's been laying around watching Nick Jr. with me and sometimes crafting. At SBAK we need about 200 kid-made bead candy cane ornaments, and I have a little sweat shop set up in the kitchen. Georgia is such a character lately and comes out with the funniest things. Last night she was playing with an app on my phone, and it wouldn't work how she wanted it to, and I hear her say, "This is ridiclious!" One night she had some of her play kitchen supplies, and she held up a plastic glass and said, "Nate, let's pretend that this is breakable and you touch it." Nate dutifully touched the cup, and Georgia said very calmly, "Nate, that's breakable, don't touch it." Game over. I cracked up laughing and she got mad at me. You can't laugh at anything she says, or she'll hide her face and get all pouty.

Seriously, every time I try to blog, I remember why I haven't blogged in 2 months. It is nearly impossible to sit down for more than 45 seconds at a time around here. At all times of the day and night, someone needs either a snack or a drink or to go potty or to be put in time out or to be nursed or put down for a nap. Whew! But I'm almost done.

Bo: He's been the angel this morning, sleeping in his swing for the past hour and a half. He is getting easier. We have had a rough time with him. Like my other two did as babies, Bo has reflux. But I think his has been worse than when they had it, or maybe it's just that I have forgotten exactly how bad it was. We have desperately tried everything. Zantac, prevacid, probiotics, even seeing a chiropractor! Even though he still spits up a lot, he is happier now. I don't know what did it, or if he is just outgrowing it, but things are getting better. Still, there are many nights that I don't sleep because of a crying baby. Little mister will be 3 months old on Black Friday. :)

Sometimes it feels like we have it somewhat together, like the couple of times we have actually all gone out together as a family or had people over for dinner. And then other times, not so much. Like right now, I look out on my back deck and see that both kids left their winter coats outside all night last night. haha! And Georgia is walking around in a long sleeve shirt, undies, and uggs. It's certainly never boring.

But then I think about this time last year when we were stuck in Boston with Nate recovering from the last of 3 surgeries and how thankful we were to be home for Thanksgiving. I think about that often, and how thankful I am for the chaos of family and home.