Our Sweet Ones

Let me start out by giving thanks to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to survive last week (I feel like I am accepting an Oscar or something). I thought it would be much worse than it was (with all the wrestling, biting, hitting, pushing and such), but I was truly blessed with his help and comfort. Especially since Boo was sick the whole time David was gone. I am also grateful to have my husband back. He is such a help and a joy to have in our home. We really missed him and we are so happy he is back!

I have to tell you this. We went to the store the other night to pick up food for Thanksgiving. I had just thrown something on and didn't have any make up on. I am pretty sure I looked like a wreck. Anyway, as we were walking through the produce section, Boo turned to me and said, "Mommy, you look beautiful." I am sure, at that moment in time, she was the only one who felt that way, but to me, that was the only thing that mattered. Boo has a way of making me feel good about myself. She tells me I am pretty and beautiful all the time. She also tells me I am a good mommy, even when I don't deserve any of it. I am so grateful for my thoughtful and loving little girl!

Boo has been sick. She picked up a lovely cold and cough from somewhere (one of our many activities) and has had it for a week and a half. It isn't as bad as it was, but she has been better. She has a lingering cough and the remnants of a runny nose, but is otherwise quite well. Bo picked up the cough on Saturday and sounded terrible from the start. I called the doctor's office on Monday and told the nurse her symptoms. She was playing and acting normal (except for waking up a couple of times at night) and didn't seem to have any symptoms Boo didn't have. The nurse told me they just had colds and to give them lots of liquids. Things changed Monday night. Poor little Bo didn't sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time (most of the time, it was less than that). It was a terrible night. She and I tried to sleep most of the day on Tuesday, as much as you can when you are waking up every time you turn over, which is all the time! I felt her forehead to make sure she didn't have a fever and her head was as cool as cucumber. When I went to change her diaper, however, completely different story. She had herself a warm and toasty fever. I was going to call the doctor anyway to make an appointment (I knew she must have developed an ear infection and possibly something more). Her appointment wasn't until 7:00 that night so we just tried to keep her happy until then. She was acting really strange-- pretty lethargic and not like herself at all. It took her a half hour to eat one little cracker. Then, she walked over to David to give him a hug and, after the hug, proceeded to throw up all over him. Poor baby and poor Daddy. Gross. So, of course, I was even more anxious to see the doctor! She was laying around for the next two hours which, if you know Bo, is completely unusual. So we went to the doctor and he said she probably has pneumonia, possibly bronchitis. He didn't want to give her an x-ray because she has a double ear infection as well and, since they are treated with the same antibiotic, he wanted to skip the radiation. He checked her blood oxygen level and, since it was high enough, she didn't have to go to the hospital. Thank goodness. So, our little girl is pretty sick. It's fitting because it is just before a holiday (family tradition in our home). We were sent on our way with some delicious medicine (yuck) and headed home.

Around 9:30 last night Bo asked to go to bed (well, nigh, night). I took her up to bed and she didn't complain one bit (she usually doesn't). I decided to sleep in the room with her last night since she had a fever and it was her first time taking the medicine. When I went in, I checked her for a fever. It was back so I had to wake her up to give her more Tylenol. I thought she would go back to sleep pretty easily. She didn't cry, but she didn't go back to sleep either. She called out to me and I went to get her out of her crib and put her in bed with me. Monday night and last night, I believe, are only her second time sleeping in a bed and not a crib. She doesn't like the bed at all. I don't know if it is because she is sick or she is realizing it's kind of soft, but she had no problems (well, for the most part). My whole point in telling you this is that, a.) I can't leave out the details, I try, but it doesn't work and, b.) I was able to have another sweet moment with my child. As she was laying there last night, more than half asleep, she reached out to my hand and arm and started rubbing them. When I thought she had gone back to sleep, I moved my arm out of the way. She put her hand on mine, brought my hand up to her face and interlocked our fingers and we held hands. We held hands for a while before she turned over to sleep. Then, a few minutes later, she turned back over and grabbed my face with her feverish hands, and fell asleep. She was burning me up, but it was worth it. We never know how much our children love us, and they will never comprehend how much we love them until they have children of their own. I now think I have a glimpse of how much my parents love me. I am so blessed and am so grateful for our sweet, sweet girls!