Life is Soooo Much Better...

When sister is napping and I get mommy all to myself!




















Please notice the color change in the last picture. Someone decided they wanted mine as well :).


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The Face of RSV

I have been getting some positive updates from Auburn about my little puny-face here. Thanks to breathing treatments, antibiotics, and royalty treatment from Lolli, Foxie seems to be feeling a little better today. So glad to hear, but still a little sad I can't be the one to take care of him. I know he is in great hands, though!

Greer is not showing any signs of sickness, praise the Lord. I have been studying her like a hawk all night and morning. Every breath...every movement...every sound. My sister came and got her so that I could sleep some today. 4 hours later I woke up feeling like a new person with a new perspective. Therefore, you should be encouraged that my blog posts should drop down a few decibels in the drama category now that I am starting to feel a sane human being again.
Thank you for all the thoughts, prayers, emails and phone calls. I'm so thankful that the Lord has surrounded me with so much encouragement and truth.

And lastly, please continue to pray that this does NOT become the face of RSV. She is clearly communicating how she feels about this entire situation and having to be separated from her brother.




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Results

It's RSV and an ear infection. I am devastated, scared, and feel guilty all at the same time. The doctor said it was the best thing for them to be separated as entirely as possible, so my precious, sick baby is in the car with his daddy headed to Auburn for an indefinite amount of time. At least through the weekend? Apparently the symptoms can last anywhere from 14 to 21 days, and he will be contagious 5 to 7 days from when it all began. I can't believe that I just got him back and now he has to turn around and leave again...when he doesn't feel good. And Lee as well. He is going to stay up there with Knox. As for Greer, I am suppose to be keeping an eye on her breathing and look for any signs that Knox has shown. If they appear I have to call Rux immediately for treatment. I know that I am tired, which makes everything worse, but I am so scared about Greer getting it that it is consuming me. She is so little and fragile that I can't even begin to imagine it.

I just wanted to post a quick update for my family and long distance friends that have been asking about him today. It's easier for me to post quickly than it is to call everyone.  I guess it's pretty obvious that we need prayer, especially Knox and Greer.

I am thankful that I serve a God who knows my needs even before the prayers leave my lips...

Please...Ask Me How My Night Was...

Preface: Noticed Knox had a runny nose and cough yesterday, as well as a small temp.His teacher told me 2 kids in his class had the flu.Came home for his nap after MDO. He napped for about 30 minutes since he couldn't breathe. I even laid down IN HIS CRIB with him because he was so tired and so upset. He would drift off, and then gasp for air because he couldn't breathe well and wake up.

Cranky yesterday afternoon. 

Emailed the doc. Said to bring him in today if he still had a fever today. I can't take both kids because Greer hasn't had her shots yet and she can't be around sick ones.

Did I mention that husband is out of town and will be until this afternoon????

Put Knox to bed early. Between him and Greer's feedings, I was up every 45 minutes to 1 hour ON THE DOT.  Knox would scream because he was so congested (can't blame him), and Greer would either spit her paci out and couldn't soothe herself, or she was hungry. SO...I am literally doing sprints between rooms for the majority of the night, stopping along the way at the bathroom to wash my hands so that I get rid of as many germs as possible for Greer's sake. Best part of the night, EASILY, is when I would lay Knox down (more like try to pin him down) and try to saline and suction out his nose. Why was it the best part? Because he would jerk his hands from my grip and slap me across the face. That's right. Slap. He has NEVER done this to me before, so this shows how much he hates hates hates the saline and suction. If he saw it in my hands he would try to run away. People, he's not skinny or light. I describe him as beast-like, so holding him down and completing the procedure 1 handed while getting slapped around by a screaming toddler was a little challenging. Both physically and mentally. I do believe my eyes began to tear up around the 4 a.m. hour.

He is up now with a low grade fever, so Lee is going to try and get home to take him to the doc before they close since I can't take both. Today's challenge is going to be trying to keep Knox and Greer separated, while keeping sanity and not running out of my front door and never looking back (I'm kidding...kind of).

As mentioned yesterday, I will definitely be re-reading this post for recollection of newborn/toddler days when I start thinking I might want a number 3.

In all seriousness, please pray that Greer doesn't get it. I am so so worried about her catching it. Also, please pray for my little guy...

Here's to relying on and trusting in the Lord to somehow get us through today!

Greer-1 month check up

I took G-baby to the doc for her check up this morning. Everything looks good!
Weight is 8 lbs, 15 ounces - 50%
height is 22 1/4 inches - 90%

Doc definitely said that she and brother had the same nose and profile, but we already knew that from the ultrasound :). He said it was too soon to tell, but it looks like the only thing she might get from me is her eye color. Time will tell, but if she does, you better believe I am going to claim it. It's all I have going for me! Ha! Here's to raising 2 little Lees!

Waiting her turn in the waiting room

;

Weighing in:

Staring at the polka dots on the wall

She kept her eyes peeled to these things

This was actually taken on her monthly bday, the 5th.

Everything went well and we shall return in 4 weeks for the dreaded shots :(.

We went to Wawa's yesterday, and these 2 little stinkers lived it up at her house like they always do. Yes, Knox is wearing a football shirt....yes, football season is over...no, I don't really care. I am lucky to get both babies fed and dressed in the morning, so lets just be thankful, OK? And naturally, Knox is going to be eating  in this picture...

He got a haircut last Friday, and not only does it make him look super grownie, but it makes him look EVEN MORE like Lee...if that's possible.

"Woman! I am trying to get some work done here!!!"

Poor guy. I know he is ready for Greer to get a little older so that the girls will stop dressing him up :)

And his new favorite position while watching football with daddy...

Things have been going pretty well. We let her sleep in her room last night and she did great! Only woke up to eat once, so that was good. I hope it continues that way. I have been told that babies can smell the mother's milk when they sleep in your room, and we thought that might have been why she started waking up more often during the night, so we gave moving her to her room a shot. We will see if the trend continues.

So, Lee took Knox on Saturday to go play for a little while and run errands while I "cleaned" the house and rested a little. Well, I checked the blog real quick to reference back to when Knox was a month old. Holy cow. 2 hours later Lee came home only to find me SOBBING on the couch with my laptop in my lap. I couldn't stop reading all the posts that I posted back when Knox was born...even the ones that had nothing to do with Knox. I seriously sat there and read through every.single.one. Lee wanted to know what was wrong, and all I could say was "He's so big...we are NEVER going to get his baby days back..." over and over. Wow. There were so many things that I had forgotten about, so many pictures and stories that made me cry. So many prayers that have been answered. I have never really gone back and re- read like that before. It made me SO glad that I blog. Sometimes I could take it or leave it, but after reading everything Saturday and realizing how descriptive I have been with the kids, I realized that this is AWESOME documentation. Not only for me, but maybe the children will read it one day. Anyways, just wanted to share that. If you haven't already, I encourage you to go back and re-read your own posts. Have a box of tissues ready!

We're all still alive!

We have almost completed our first week of "normal life" as a family of 4. Honestly, it has been great. Yes, I am exhausted and worn out, but the Lord has really shown himself this week in big ways...at least to me He has. I was telling my friend Cathie yesterday that I had really been doubting myself and capabilities for well over a month now, and as we all know I was super duper scared to try it by myself, so that fact that the Lord orchestrated everything the way He did this week was huge for my confidence as a mother of 2.

I will say that I am really, really tired. G-baby has pulled a little switch-a-rooni with her sleeping patterns on me. She now wakes every 3 to 4 hours, which is about 2 times a night. I know, I know... This is normal for this age, but man I was spoiled for those 2 weeks when she only woke once. I am more than ready for her to sleep through the night, but unfortunately I think I have a little longer to go before we get there. 

I don't think that I can find the words to describe her. She is the absolute sweetest baby and is soooo quiet and sooo laid back-nothing like her mother :). Sometimes we forget that she is even in the room. She is incredibly sweet, and all I want to do is stare at her. I still can't believe she is mine. Heck, I still can't believe Knox is mine. Thank you, Jesus, for amazing gifts we don't deserve. She still sleeps in our room at night in a bassinet, and when she wakes to eat you can barely hear her. She doesn't really cry...more like coos a little and smacks her lips :). I feed her, and when she is finished she goes right back to sleep on the spot. This might sound like absolutely the craziest thing for me to be so excited about, but if you will remember 18 months ago I was struggling with colic and acid reflux in a newborn. Her temperament is such an answered prayer, and we continue to pray and praise Him for the way he created her. She is wonderful. I can't say enough about her. SO...I am not really too concerned about lack of sleep (at least, at the moment), because she is such a joy to be around.

Also, Knox Lawson came back from his Lolli vacation a changed man! Ha. Honestly, I feel like he has grown up SO much since he has been home. He is saying words left and right, doesn't pay attention too much to the paci, hasn't really had any big meltdowns (another huge huge huge answered prayer), and just all in all seems to be so joyful. He has really loved "helping" mommy. He constantly brings me baby items like burp cloths, bibs, and bottles that are in his reach and loves to hear me say "Thank you, Knox!" when he brings them to me. I am pumping a lot and feeding her through a bottle and he wants to sit by me and "hold" the bottle with me. He seems to be in awe of her right now. We have let him sit and hold her, with assistance of course, and the way he looks at her and smiles brings tears to my eyes. In fact, I am tearing up right now because everything makes me cry these days-in a good way. I can't believe the way he is around her. I know that there are definitely going to be some trying times with him, but I am so enjoying this calm side of him for the time being. I think that I just had a bad vision of him feeling left out and excluded causing him to act out. SO...another praise for prayers answered!

Here he is trying to put Greer's socks back on while I feed her. Huh...I wonder how they came off in the first place? :)

He went in her room and came back with this hat. Yea, he wore it around the house for most of the night, including dinner!

Cha Cha (my sister) gave him one of their old leapters for him to play with in the car so that he wouldn't fall asleep after we visit WaWa. She lives in Mobile and the drive back usually ends with me screaming his name, blaring the radio, and rolling down the windows to keep him awake. If he falls asleep in the car he will NOT take a nap when we get home. Thanks, sister!

This is pure love to me. 

Foxie loves him some salad with ranch. So much that after we ate dinner last night and played around the house, he threw it all back up on my ottoman and rug due to laughing like a maniac. Whole lettuce leaves and all. Nice...

Here we are watching the Cedarmont Kids. This is the only...THE ONLY...show that will make him stop and stand still for a minute. He even sits in his chair to watch it. Huge shout out to Lolli for picking up the DVD for him for Christmas. We wore that puppy out, and so when he came home from his vacation, he had a DVD set with 100 more songs for him to enjoy. I will say that I kind of love/hate it now. Only because I feel like that is the only thing that is ever on our TV. It has been perfect for when I feed, though, and he is also super cute and tries to sing and act out the songs. Unfortunately, I think he will have Lee's dance moves...

You can always count on WaWa to feed this guy. Fortunately, it is usually something healthy like veggies or fruit. I know I have said it before, but this guy is SO heavy.I am now grunting when I pick him up...

This is my latest favorite picture. Just look at his smile! He is such a proud big brother. This picture right here makes every inch of sleep deprivation WELL worth it. Heck, it even made me tell the doctor today that I was no longer thinking about permanent birth control. Lord help us all!!

Here's G-baby. Someone got a little tired of tummy time :)

I don't think I could possibly  love these 2 any more than I do now. Life is crazy. The house is messy. My hair is never fixed. Make up is a long lost friend. "Down time" does not exist any more. And sleeping late will probably not happen in this house again for 18 more years. Yet...I don't remember a time in my life that I have ever been happier.