The Sick House

I have been behind again on my blogging but this time I think I actually have a pretty good excuse.  We have been sick in this house for going on 4 weeks and I have to document this because this is strangely the first time this has ever happened to us!  Cooper had RSV when he was 7 months old and other than that and the occasional allergies, he has never been sick.  Kyleigh has only had the occasional allergies in her 2 short years.  It all started with a stomach bug that Daniel and I had a few weeks ago.  We didn't realize it at the time but that would start our 4 weeks of torture.

After the stomach bug, Kyleigh developed bronchitis the following  week and then a bout with the same stomach issues we had.  The following week Cooper came down with the stomach bug on Wednesday and ended that week with a bout of croup that caused his very first ER visit.  Luckily it was just croup and they were able to give him a breathing treatment and send them on their way.  That visit was on a Saturday night and so needless to say we were exhausted on Sunday but Daniel had volunteered us to take the place of some friends' of ours' table in the college class at church so I forged on and went to Sunday School and came home after.  That night I began to feel a little yucky myself but I assumed it was probably just exhaustion.  Nope, by Tuesday evening I felt awful.  Not only did I feel awful but Kyleigh wasn't sounding too great either.  I took her in to the doctor and they told me she had bronchitis!  I couldn't believe it.  Since I wasn't feeling well and Daniel was leaving town the next day I decided I should go ahead and go to urgent care.  They gave me a steroid shot and sent me on my way.  I started to feel better the next day but then it just came back overwhelmingly worse over the weekend.  I planned to take Cooper to the Mom/Son Speedway Spectacular on Friday night and somehow I managed to make it through so that he could have a great time, and that he did (see future post)!

That now brings us to this past week.  Kyleigh has still been battling a cough that after 10 days of an antibiotic should have been gone and having a strange fever on and off.  I too still felt terrible and decided I would have to go see my regular physician so I got an appointment for her in the morning and one for myself in the afternoon.  I took Kyleigh in that morning after taking her to Mother's Day Out and then having to pick her up because she was running fever.  By the time I got her into the doctor's office her temp was 102.8.  Poor thing had two ear infections and then they told me they wanted her to get a chest x-ray since she had just had bronchitis.  After doing the chest x-ray they determined she had developed pneumonia.  I felt so bad for her because she is such a happy spunky little girl who was now just wanting to be held and cuddled.  They gave her another stronger antibiotic and sent us on our way.

That afternoon I went to the doctor and my allergy/cough mess had now developed into bronchitis.  Could things possibly get any worse?  It's amazing to me how things just keep going through each member of your family and I've never understood it until now.  I can report now as of Thursday that we are ALL on the up and up and feeling much better!  My plan this weekend is to get everyone out of the house for a few hours and scrub this plan down top to bottom so that hopefully whatever lingering germs might still be in the air can be eliminated!!!!

Daddy/Daughter Dance 2012

I am SO excited to post about this awesome event put on by our church!  I love any kind of activity where dads can spend time with their daughters.  I feel like so often today that girls in general don't really understand what it means to be treated kindly and like a lady.  I feel like these opportunities are so few and far between for dads to really show their daughters how a man ought to treat her and I just pray that someday these opportunities will really make an impact on my own daughter when she is praying for that perfect mate.

Daniel really had to be talked into taking her by me because he really thought she was too young to go.  I was so surprised that he later told me he's so glad I talked him into taking her because she had the absolute time of her life.  She danced and ran around and felt like she was free!  I was so glad to see her have such a great time just by looking at all the videos he took of her on his phone.  It even made me think about signing her up for a tiny tots dance class this fall!

Easter 2012

This year for Easter we traveled to Winnsboro to see my parents.  I haven't been home in awhile so it was nice to get to spend a few days there.  We had fun hunting eggs, going out to eat, and just generally playing with the kids.  The weather was so nice and I really enjoyed getting to see several people I haven't seen in awhile.  Sadly, my children were acting their usual on a Sunday so we didn't get any pictures of them together in their outfits. :(  I was, however, pleasantly surprised at how well the kids got into hunting the eggs and surprisingly didn't fight over them.  They are finally getting to that age where they are fighting a bit over what's "mine mine".  Sometimes I just let them hash it out on their own but there are a few cases where I have to step in and intervene so we all come out nice and unharmed rather than with battle wounds.  I love that they are playing together and for the most part they play together really well.  I also love LOVE the fact that they have been putting on these little concerts for us lately.  I'm hoping I can get one of my little videos to upload soon because it is such a hoot!

Kyleigh's First Gown

I know it sounds funny but there is just something about a little girl's first nightgown that is like a rite of passage.  I feel like when children go from wearing footed sleepers to 2 piece outfits to sleep in it is so sad because they seem more like toddlers rather than babies.  Well, when they go from wearing a 2 piece outfit to wearing a nightgown, it is even more sad!  I love that my baby girl is growing up and becoming a sweet person but I just wish things would slow down a bit!

Are We Still Alive?

Yes, we are still alive. I don't really have an excuse as to why I haven't been blogging other than the fact that I just haven't been inspired to sit down and recount all the crazy things we have been up to lately. So much has gone on since I last blogged in January. We have had several visits from family, some from friends, and we've been a few places here and there. I am figuring out that springtime in College Station has much to offer young families.

I know I've probably said it before but I must say it again. Our SS class at church has truly been a God-send for us. We have become great friends with so many couples and families in our class. Our kids have really made some great friends through it as well. I will have to do a small paragraph on each child just to get you caught up as much has changed with our children over these past few months. I'll start with Cooper!

Cooper is POTTY TRAINED!!!! This is definitely the biggest achievement for the ENTIRE family that has happened over the past few months. There were definitely days where I didn't know if it would ever happen after our first failed attempt last fall. Daniel decided one Saturday that we would give it another try and after that weekend we never looked back. He has done so amazingly well with everything that I can't praise him enough for his accomplishment. He is still attached to his GiGi (the stuffed giraffe) and also his blanket (with a giraffe on it...lol). On a bit of a sour note, he has become quite the back-talker. We are attempting to quickly get him out of this phase but it is slow going. Thankfully, the "rump warmer" is helping us achieve this more quickly than I thought :) The "rump warmer" was the paddle my parents used on my brother and I when we were kids. I can't believe my mom let it go especially since it would be used on "her babies".....lol Love you mom!

Kyleigh has blossomed into this little diva girl that I always assumed she would become, considering the source she came from :) She talks more than I can keep up with and every day I feel like she's saying something new. Not just words either, but full sentences. I don't remember Cooper talking that clearly this early but who knows. She is very attached to her "baby" (a pink elephant head with a blanket attached) and usually doesn't go anywhere without it. She is also very into having her hair fixed these days....FINALLY!!! I love that she will sit and let me do fun things with her hair and I can't wait for it to get even longer so I can do more fun things with it!

Kyleigh & Cooper have also both been attending Mother's Day Out at church this semester and have been loving it. They come home every Monday and Wednesday with fun crafts and stories of what they learned or who they played with that day. Kyleigh has a small class so she now knows each person by name and tells me their names every time we go. It is so funny to listen to her as she walks in the room telling everyone hello. She is quite the social butterfly.

Daniel has been so crazy busy with work lately that we haven't been able to spend that much quality time together because he is so tired in the evenings. I am so glad that things are going well and that he loves his job but I wouldn't be sad if things slowed down a bit in the next few months. I'm hoping we can take a vacation sometime this summer if I can get him to stop long enough to enjoy it!

Sadly, I have no pictures to share because while I've neglected blogging I've also neglected my picture taking. I am going to try very hard to be better at that in the weeks to come since the bluebonnets are in full bloom here in central Texas! I really hope that I can keep up with this blog better in the future but we all know that's probably not going to happen. Try not to have a heart attack if I post again in the next month.....lol.

Molly Grace Shearrer

I am so excited that my very first niece, Molly, arrived at 4:25 pm on January 3, 2012! We have all been patiently waiting her arrival, most of all, Amy, Clifton, and big brother Layton. I still can't believe she weighed 9 lbs 6 oz and was 22 in long. I was so blessed to get to go on Wednesday and see her while they were still in the hospital.

I couldn't believe how much she looked like Layton yet had some similar features to Amy as a baby. I enjoyed getting to cuddle and love on her while Clifton did some work on his computer and Amy enjoyed getting her neck and back massage (one of the lovely perks of North Central Baptist Hospital in San Antonio) :) I was able to have lunch with Amanda, Layton, and Tricia before heading back one last time to say bye to everyone at the hospital and make my way back to College Station. I am so glad I got to see her when she was still so new and I can't wait to go see her again and for Daniel and the kids to get to meet her next weekend!!

Christmas 2011 at Home

Saturday, on Christmas Eve, we enjoyed an awesome lunch in Pleasanton and then headed back to College Station. My parents, grandparents, and my brother came in that night to enjoy Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after. We went to Christmas Eve service at our church and it was beautiful. I especially love to attend services on Christmas because there is so much joy in the air it seems like just celebrating Jesus's birth and the season. We didn't plan dinner too well that night and the only thing open was Dominos so we enjoyed some pizza after the services were over.

The next day I had a big lunch planned of brisket, potato salad, Daniel's famous beans, and for dessert some of Jim's leftover Milky Way Pie (YUM). We had a really lazy morning just enjoying the kids opening their gifts and playing with all their new toys. We enjoyed watching a movie that afternoon while the kids were napping and then we had some visitors later that evening to end out a really fun day.

The next day as much as I wasn't ready to, everyone helped take down my Christmas decorations , and my mom and I did a little after Christmas shopping. We were able to find some great deals on organization stuff for the playroom (which I am SO glad I cleaned out before Christmas because it is overflowing once more with all the new gifts) and some other fun goodies for ourselves. I'm so glad that we were able to enjoy this time with ALL of our family and I hope that we can continue to do it this way every year!