Well, it’s Christmas day, and we’re having a great time up here in Wisconsin. Not very much snow this year, but you don’t need a lot to make a two year old happy. Here’s a couple pictures from our Christmas tree cutting adventure. Analise preceeded this adventure by telling Molly the dog, "Come on Molly. Let’s go get a Christmas tree." Last night before the Christmas eve service, Analise said three complete sentences in a row: "Come on Molly. Let’s go to church. I’ll ride on your back."

Analise walking next to the snow covered dirt road.

Analise wanted to help Aunt Kat carry the Christmas tree back to the car.

One last post from me this evening! We had a busy day planned – Brian had to be at Samford at 9am to participate in the graduation ceremony. Analise, Josiah and I took our time getting going this morning, enjoying some Saturday morning cartoons while I made homemade muffins. Brian got home a little early, just in time for me to get everyone down for their naps. Brian’s parents were going to babysit for us tonight while we went to see friend’s who had a new baby and attended a couples wedding shower together. Mid-afternoon, though, Brian’s mom called to say they wouldn’t be coming as Tom had gotten sick on the golf course, and he was headed to the hospital! It turns out he was having a heart attack! Thankfully, they were able to go in and put a stent in, though they found the artery was almost completely blocked. He’s in the hospital until Monday or so. Scary! I’m so glad he’s ok!

Anyway, it wasn’t the evening we were expecting. Brian went up to see his dad briefly, and we had a quiet evening here. I’m having a hard time figuring out to do with myself these evenings. Brian’s been going to bed early so he can get up early, since that’s the time he’s most productive. I, on the other hand, struggle in the morning, specially since my nights are so interrupted. I feel like I’ve GOT to make the most of these quiet evening hours to get things done. I’m getting the blog caught up and working on Sunday School lessons for tomorrow, my usual late-Saturday evening project. (I’m in charge of Sunday School curriculum. It’s a job that I’d joyfully hand off if there was someone wanting to do it… *sigh*). Ahem – this isn’t the best time to be picking a craft project, since all the fun stuff usually requires a trip to the craft store.

Ok, enough rambling. Pray that Brian’s dad, Tom, gets well soon. We’re so thankful he’s doing better!

This parenting thing is hard.  Yesterday was a rough day.  I think it was just the culmination of a long, long week for me.  Analise has been sick, I’m fighting a cold, Josiah has been sick, Brian’s been swamped with work.  Analise has been grumpy, and it’s made me grumpy.  We’ve fought little power battles every day, numerous times, and I’m feeling like some days are definitely the "terrible 2’s".  I’m pretty stir-crazy from being cooped up with the 2 kiddos all week.  I broke down last night in tears, just from being overwhelmed and frustrated with the day and the week in general. 

Last night while I was sleeping, though, I found this verse in my mind, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love…" (Psalm 143:8).  It touched me deeply, and I woke up with a lighter spirit.  Today has been a much better day, especially with Analise.  She’s been obedient and sweet, mostly.  We painted, played outside, did a craft.  She took her medicine on her own, willingly, without a fight (major BIG DEAL).  Tonight is the end of 4 consecutive "dry" days, too!  WOOHOO!  I’m very proud of her.

Anyway, it’s been a better day, thankfully.  It’s so incredibly easy to let the enemy find a corner in our mind to fill us with anxieties, frustrations, self-pities, etc.  And before you know it, they’ve completely encompassed your mind, and all you can think about is "poor me".  That’s where I was last night.  But here’s my prayer tonight:

Lord, satisfy us in the morning with your unfailling love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all of our days.  (Psalm 90:14)

I’ll leave you with a couple more cute pictures of Analise – including one smile!  She’d gotten a new set of bows, and she let me put them all in her hair.  When I was putting the last one (#6) in, she said, "It’s getting crowded!"  Haha!  Then she went back to her book.  I love my beautiful little bookworm.

Last Friday, Josiah got to eat his first real food, the night before his 6 month birthday. Yum… oatmeal baby cereal with formula! It was hard to convince him that he’d like it more than the spatula, at first. Then he wasn’t quite sure what he thought of it.

But after a couple bites, he wouldn’t let go of the spoon, and kept wanting to "help" me feed him. He seemed to like it pretty well, and he ate all that I’d made.

He’s got a gourmet menu of rice with apples bananas tomorrow – what an exciting change! Oh, and the always delicious main course of warm sweet breastmilk:) Still his favorite. Can you tell buy his round little body he eats pretty well?

After 2 days of feeling feverish and a day of grumpiness (today), I hope Josiah will be over the virus that has bugged both he and Analise this week. We need to be healthy again! It’s been a long week for mom…  This last picture is for comparison sake – this week (6 months) and July (1 month).  He’s gotten so big!  His favorite place to sleep is still on me.  Though it’s hard to convince him to give in and go to sleep, I still love having him snuggled up against me.

Josiah woke up last night with a fever over 103 (!), stressing me out a bit.  I gave him Tylenol, and he slept for several hours and woke up much cooler.  I didn’t take his temp this morning, but he seemed closer to a normal temp, and acted fine.  After his early morning nap, though, he felt warm again, and sure enough, his temp was 102.3.  The worry with Josiah is that he might have a urinary tract infection and/or kidney infection due to his urinary reflux issues.  We got into the doctor’s really quickly, and after some quick tests, everything was ruled out.  Yeah!  Hopefully just a fever virus that’ll run its course in a day or so. 

I bet he got it from Analise… and her ear infection may not have played much of a part in the fevers.  What a mess we are.