when you need a sister

We’ve had a rough couple of days this week, with all four of us battling the stomach flu. I wouldn’t usually write a whole blog post about us being sick, because I never want it to seem like I’m complaining (I know it could always be worse)!

But sometimes, you just can’t do it all alone. Yesterday, I was so blessed when my sister (in-law, technically) came over to take care of all of us. Seriously… she came into our germ-infested house to make sure we were doing okay.
_MG_4661Lelia disinfected everything, stripped all the beds down, washed and folded all my laundry, made playdough cookies with Kaya, let me nap, and just watched over us all afternoon. It was so comforting to not be alone during our bout of sickness and exhaustion, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

I also might’ve cried on her shoulder about how she’s moving away about a month from now.

Jeff is just as awesome for bringing us Gatorade and giving priesthood blessings to Michael and Kaya.

I don’t know what we would do without our family.

a blessing, not a burden

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I’ve spent most of this week sick (for the second time within the past two weeks), which is normally a rare occurrence for me. I’m finally starting to feel like my normal self again (just in time for some Christmas festivities this weekend)!

Honestly though… It’s not easy being mom and feeling awful all at the same time. Your body just begs you to sleep and rest, but you’ve got mouths to feed, bums to wipe, and two-year-old mood swings to handle.

It’d be so easy to see all this as a burden (especially when you don’t get that nap you so desperately need)…

… but I’d count having my babies with me on a sick day as a blessing.

How couldn’t I feel a little better at the sight of their smiles? Having Kaya play kitchen with me was also a pretty good distraction, and I had the best little snuggle buddy in the world to keep me company.
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I’d spend any day with them. I’m so grateful for my little sidekicks and honestly wish they didn’t have to grow up and leave home.

(Let it also be noted: Michael is equally amazing. He finished my laundry, let me go to bed early, and even did my grocery shopping!)

I am one lucky gal.

be here

By Saturday night, we were all feeling sick (well, not Jax, lucky dog… see what I did there?). Somehow, I was hoping that Kaya and I wouldn’t catch what Michael had… but with all the snuggling we do in this family, we were pretty much in for it.
0302014weekendcollageBetween getting shots earlier in the week and then fighting this little sick bug, Kaya has been a little extra needy lately.

She wants to cuddle and sleep on me, and it doesn’t matter if I’m still in my running clothes, haven’t showered, or have bread dough rising on the counter for hours more than it should be.

The thought that keeps running through my head is just how important it is that I just be here for her.

So whether she wants me to snuggle with her all day, read books, blow a million bubbles, or just play on her own without me, I’m so glad I get to be here.

These days are so precious to me.

five on friday: bronchitis, beads, and nutella

ONE. I’m finally sitting down, happily exhausted, to write this. I had such a productive day, and it feels amazing to be so accomplished! I ran, went to my church institute class, did some grocery shopping, cleaned the kitchen, scrubbed the bathrooms, mopped, vacuumed (I even did the baseboards and furniture… hello nesting!), folded laundry, and had a photoshoot. Phew!

TWO. Speaking of photoshoots… Our dear friends are in town this weekend and asked me to take some pictures of their boys. How handsome are they? I also just loved watching siblings interact, since they are about the same distance in age that Kaya and Peanut will be!_MG_1790

THREE. Poor Michael has been feeling sick on and off since Wednesday, so he finally went to the doctor this morning. He has bronchitis! Seeing him just bumming out on the couch, coughing up a lung, breaks my heart. Kaya had shots this week, so she’s been a great cuddle buddy for him.

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FOUR. My dog is stylin’ (Mardi Gras beads courtesy of Kaya).

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FIVE. Nutella!!!_MG_1720

Happy weekend!!!

Linking up with Natasha, April, Christina, and Darci today!

project 365: 14/365

November 8: I’m thankful for my talents that allow me to create things for other people…_MG_0001 November 9: …for a Daddy to help with bath time…_MG_0004 November 10: …for Daddy cuddles when she isn’t feeling well…_MG_0019 November 10: … for all the silly things she does (like putting “makeup” on Michael here)!_MG_0032 November 12: I’m thankful for date-nights in and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls…_MG_0044 November 13: … for this goofy dog who will snuggle with anything._MG_0046 November 14: … for this mess, because it means we have someone to make it (and toys for her to play with)._MG_0069

sometimes, it’s the little things

I know my last post was kind of on the down side, but I’m happy to report that we are all doing so much better than we were a few days ago.

This sick little face is finally back to being herself. We had a couple of rough days and nights, but it really wasn’t so bad.

_MG_0029This week, I’ve really been appreciating the small, meaningful moments. Sure, Kaya didn’t feel well, but that just meant that we got to snuggle and watch a million episodes of Baby Einstein. We even had a family slumber party in the living room at 4 am because she didn’t want to be alone (and being propped up instead of lying flat seemed to help her rest better).

Michael and I had a late dinner date to Wendy’s. We ate in the car while Kaya slept, and the radio played all our favorite songs. It was so fun to do something spontaneous together.

Kaya took a super long nap, and I was so grateful after those late nights and early mornings we had. I took full advantage (and as usual, Jax takes any opportunity he gets to be on the bed and smother me. I actually love that he’s so cuddly).

IMG_20131113_144506 I still miss Juni, but Michael lovingly cleaned up all her things so that I didn’t have to. I’m so thankful for him.

My thoughtful visiting teacher left a treat at my front door just to let me know she cares.

If you know me, you’ve probably seen me wearing Christmas socks all year round. I can’t help it- I just love holiday socks! I was so thrilled to find these (on the right, the ones on the left are from Michael’s Arts and Crafts) for $1 at Target today. Bring on the Christmas season! I also bought sprinkles for decorating gingerbread cookies… I want to do it all now, but Michael is making me wait until Thanksgiving is over!

socks2013collage1I’m so thankful for tiny tender mercies, no matter how trivial some of them might seem. God is good.

sometimes, it’s rough

Let’s face it- on the blog, I mostly write about sunshine, rainbows, and/or unicorns. (Not really, but you get the idea, right?)

Today I’m going to be honest.

Life is hard sometimes.

I know that other people have trials that are so much bigger. So much harder.

But that doesn’t mean that YOUR troubles aren’t significant and sometimes even overwhelming.

We had a crazy weekend. For most of it, I was feeling pretty under the weather. I noticed on Saturday night that my guinea pig, Juni, really wasn’t looking so well. She was still eating, so I kept an eye on her.IMG_1497 [640x480]

When I woke up on Sunday, she was just lying there, barely hanging on to life.

“I think she waited for you”, Michael said.

I agreed.

I spent all morning with her. I stroked her fur, which seemed softer than ever. I told her I loved her. Her breathing became so slow that it was hard to tell exactly when she left us, but I believe it was just before we headed out to church.

This is the first time in almost 8 years I haven’t shared my home with a guinea pig. It’s strange. It feels empty.

We went to church, and suddenly, Kaya started to become lethargic and feverish. She has never been sick before (we have definitely been blessed), so it made me really nervous. We actually left a few minutes early to get her home, take her temperature, and see if she’d nap.

103.4 degrees.

I felt so helpless. She cried and cried and cried. My first instinct is to nurse her, but anytime I’d lay her down, she’d start bawling.

Sometimes (maybe even most of the time), I have no idea what I’m doing as a mom. I’m just making it up as I go along, and sometimes that doesn’t feel good enough.

She was still eating and drinking, so we didn’t take her in to her pediatrician until today. Her doctor said that she has seen a lot of kids lately with fevers that just run for a few days, and that’s all it is. Everything else looks good.

All these events seemed to accumulate into one big avalanche and completely cover me. Add some insomnia and sleep deprivation to our equation… and it made today seem so hard. I’m so thankful for Michael, because without him I would probably be 100 times more irrational and clueless.

I miss Juni. My heart breaks for my sick baby. I’m exhausted. But it’s okay. Life’s meant to be a little rough.

I also burnt our microwave out on Friday. I’m almost laughing at that one now. Almost.

obsession

I didn't get to go to the horse barn today because I felt sick and really needed to sleep. But while I slept, I dreamed about the horses. I missed the smell of the sawdust bedding in the barn, the sweet feed, the hay, and just the horses. I love taking care of them, bringing them in for dinner and turning them out in the field. I love feeling their warm, strong muscles under my fingertips as I put their blankets on. One of my my favorite things of all is when they'll rub their whole head all over me. Sure, maybe they're just itchy, but it sure is funny!

Here is my favorite "big" guy, Hudson (seriously, he has a body condition score of 7.5/8!) 

La fin [the end]

Tonight my French professor had all of us from her Oral Proficiency class over for dinner. Each of us brought something, and overall we had quite a nice variety of foods. I'm not one to brag, but I do make some preeetty delicious brownies. So that's what I brought, and my prof even asked for the recipe! She makes a pretty mean whipped cream herself =)

We all joked around about our favorite professors' little quirks that we love so much… And retold some of the stories from skits we've had to act out over the years. We were all laughing so hard, but on the inside, I think we were all a little sad too. This was really the last time we'd all be together. Mostly everyone else there is graduating this semester. I'll still be here, finishing up my dual degree, which is honorable in itself, but it doesn't always feel quite that way. When you see everyone around you moving on to bigger and better things, it's easy to say "Gosh. I'm still just an undergrad!". Anyway, it was a great last memory to have with some of my French buddies.

In my post yesterday, I mentioned that I was sick… well, I woke up this morning and felt nearly completely better! There must be some magic fairy that goes around at night healing people. But last night, when I wasn't feeling so great, I watched about an hour and a half of Hannah Montana. Yeah, I just admitted that. I seem to do it only when I'm sick. But the best part of it all was that my best friend was sitting right beside me the entire time. (By the way, I'm sure that watching Hannah Montana isn't exactly his idea of fun. That must mean he loves me a lot <3 )

surprise!

I have two surprises for you.

Last night, my friend and her roommate, who are in an agricultural sorority for whom Michael made an AMAZING website, came over and caught him completely off guard when they piled yummy baked treats on his lap! They also gave him a giftcard to his favorite store ever (Best Buy. where else?) All this was to thank him for their awesome website. He was beaming and it was nice to see him surprised and know that I successfully kept a secret.

The next surprise is bad. Today in my horse class we dissected legs. Yeah, horse legs. I was so excited for it! But without thinking about it, I went with an empty stomach and I learned a hard lesson today. NEVER EVER EVER go dissect anything without eating first. I think the smell just got to my poor stomach. I started seeing spots and nearly passed out but luckily some nice girls in my class were looking out for me. They gave me some soda and a cookie and made me lay down for a bit. So I missed the cool part of the lab. Oh well.