Sick baby boy

Our sweet Rivers has been sick the last week or so with a pretty bad case of RSV. It just came out of nowhere. He was feeling well and sleeping great and suddenly he got a stuffy nose and then the next thing you know he is wheezing, couching and has a high fever. Needless to say it has been very scary and very tiring the last week. I'm currently up at 6:00 AM and have been up for the last three hours just watching him and giving him the breathing treatments he now has to have five times a day.

The breathing treatments make him jittery and fussy but he did finally get comfortable and fall asleep about 10 minutes ago. I'm expecting him to sleep for several hours because it is really the first he has slept all night. Unfortunately, my 14 month old will be waking up in about an hour so I guess I should be sleeping but at this very moment I'm not quite to a sleepy point so I thought maybe sitting here in bed on the laptop and blog posting might serve as counting sheep. (I think it's working)

Anyway, this week has been one of the roughest yet as far as sleepless nights, and hard days have been. I'm getting very little sleep at night and the days are hard because Rivers has been very fussy. Here's the thing though, as a mother these sacrifices you make while caring for a sick child never seem too hard. I think it's because this is what mothering is all about. It's about nurturing a little life in good times but especially in bad times.

Right now I'm contemplating another day....another day of laundry, meals, helping a sick baby, playing with my other three who desperately need my attention right now since the baby has been keeping me quite busy.... I'm thinking of all these things I need and have to do and I'm thinking how grateful I am to do them. I currently know several friends who are struggling to have children of their own and I know they would take a million sleepless nights to have a precious baby. So I refuse to complain, I'm experiencing what some might call a tough time but what others would call bliss.... I'm blessed!

Library end of summer party

This summer I decided to take the children to participate in the summer reading program at our church library. Every Tuesday at 9:30am we would go to the church for "Terrific Tuesdays". Each week was an activity, a story time, a snack, and checking out books for the next weeks credit. Anna earned lots of great prizes throughout the summer for the books she read. Both girls had the BEST time and this was the highlight of their summer.... except getting a new baby brother of course... =)

This week was the end of year program and party. They had several games of Bingo (which Anna won once), pizza, cake and an awards ceremony. Anna got a certificate for reading 1079 pages throughout the summer. We are super proud of her! Serene just had fun playing with her little friends.

We can't wait for next summer and we are so grateful for the sweet ladies that work in the library who put on this great program for the children of our church.

Geese

This was what our backyard looked like yesterday. They stayed there for about an hour just hanging out. The children loved watching them. Just a few months ago we were living in Keller with a backyard the size of a shoebox and now we have geese tramping through our yard... my how things have changed! =)

Grape jelly

During Jimmy's time off work after the baby came we were taking a walk one evening and discovered a HUGE grapevine running up a big pecan tree on our street. We got some of the grapes and as real grapes are they were full of seeds. Not too yummy to eat plain but we hated to let them go to waste so we decided to make grape jelly from them. We talked to Jimmy's mom who is a master at canning and the next thing you know we are in the kitchen making twenty jars of grape jelly. I have to say that this is the best grape jelly I have ever eaten and I'm looking forward to next summer and hopefully making at least more like fifty jars that we can give as gifts to family and friends.

A big thank you to Jimmy's mom for basically doing all the work. I'm so grateful to have someone in the family who has such a special skill. I'm hoping she will teach our girls how to do it as well!

Just some Wednesday "randomness"

At this very moment it is unusually quiet in my house. Anna is playing on the computer, Serene is watching her play, Ben is sleeping and Rivers is quietly sitting in his bouncy chair. Although we have four small children I am finding this quiet time is more and more frequent in the afternoons and I am trying to take advantage of those moments. At first I would use those moments to get tons of work done but lately I realizing that sitting down and just taking a break seems to be much more wise. I need time to rest or even just browse some of my favorite blogs! I'm proud of myself for learning that "sitting down on the job" is ok!!
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This hot weather has worn out its welcome and needs to hit the road. I'm so done with it. Bring on the pumpkins, changing leaves and football!
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Rivers is now 6 weeks old and I have to say it has to be the fastest six weeks ever. He is growing so fast and is just a joy to be around. He is NOT sleeping good in his own bed right now due to a little stuffy nose and fever that makes it hard to nurse, and hard to sleep comfortably. BUT, he is sleeping happily and comfortably propped up on my arm right next to mommy! Being propped up lets him sleep better and being next to mommy is very comforting for mommy and baby! I LOVE sleeping with my babies! He is such a precious and happy baby. He is very alert and loves to look at things with bold shapes and he loves the fan. We all enjoy him so much. He smiled for the first time the other day and melted my heart!
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I'm so grateful for the people in my life who encourage me in the best and most important job in the world! Thanks so much to ladies like my amazing mother, Pat C., Debi C., and Nancy C. who lead by example for younger moms. I need each of you in my life!

Great -Granna and her grandchildren

This is my grandmother (my moms mom) with my mom and dad and all the children!
I love this picture!

Divide and conquer

One thing we have quickly discovered now that we have four children is the benefit of divide and conquer type parenting! This is how is works... Jimmy takes two and I take two... brilliant huh? =) It's a simple plan that works like a charm. Now reality is that Anna is not really one that needs much tending to. BUT still the divide and conquer plan has saved us a few times already. It is hard work to have three children ages 2 1/2 and under but it is so worth it.

Just yesterday I was upstairs reading books to the oldest three and holding baby Rivers. As they all three sat in front of me right in a row I thought... WOW, these are all mine, all these beautiful little people looking up at me with little eyes waiting for approval, seeking my attention and needing me to get through this season of life. I'm certainly overwhelmed by it all but I'm also filled with an amazing gratefulness for how blessed I really am.

Children are such a blessing of amazing proportions.