lately

The picture below perfectly portrays how everyone was feeling on Thursday. Or was it Friday? It's all a blur. Stella was acting like such a pistol when she was sick - taking toys from Grace, having meltdowns. She would get really hot and the fever would return once the dose of Ibuprofen wore off. I was at my wits' end for most of last week taking care of a sick toddler who was clingy and needy, and then Grace got sick Saturday, and has been ever since. Saturday night was a doozy. Grace did not sleep a wink until 3 a.m. Yes. 3 a.m. So that means that neither Brett nor I slept a wink until 3 a.m. She was extremely congested, had a fever, and whenever we lay her down in her crib she would scream and cry. At around 1:30 in the morning, I decided to see if going for a drive would calm her down or even help her fall asleep. I went for a twenty minute drive, and all it did was kill twenty minutes. She was crying again by the time we got back home, and when I got back, Brett was up with Stella. It was one of the worst nights we've experienced as parents thus far. Not the worst, but definitely in the top ten.

The next day was Sunday, and I was supposed to work in the infants' room at church at 9, but I was so tired from the night before that I could hardly function. My mom worked for me! I was so relieved! Thanks, Mom!

Typical scene from last week. Lots of Netflix.

Grace and I went for a walk while Brett took Stella to Urgent Care Friday evening. Stella fell asleep on the short drive to the clinic, and fell asleep in Brett's lap while they waited in the lobby. Considering Stella had a fever for four consecutive days plus a cough, the doctor guessed (without exposing her to radiation with an X-ray) that she may have pneumonia. She instructed Brett to fill the antibiotic prescription the following day if Stella had a fever, and to give her some albuterol breathing treatments with the nebulizer. We bought a nebulizer when Stella was hospitalized at 9 months old with pneumonia, RSV, and bronchiolitis.

Saturday Brett drew this cozy harvest scene for Stella. :)

Some of my Stella & Dot orders arrived Saturday which gave me a certain measure of material happiness. Haha. I love the packaging! I still have another necklace on backorder that I am looking forward to getting soon!

I love my kiddos in bright colors. Since they are pale like me, color is always a good idea.

Sunday afternoon. So stinking tired. After so little sleep, the natural look seemed the right way to go. This is as "real" as I'll let you see me.

Saturday afternoon we took the girls out of the house for a little walk through our neighborhood to Caribou. I love how close we live to (two!) (drive-thru!) Caribous. Stella shared some banana bread with Brett, and Grace and I had an egg sandwich. Brett and I both enjoyed some iced coffee. Mmmm.
Aren't these new Caribou mugs great? I'll take four of each, mmm-kay, thanks.

Stella wanted to strike some poses for the camera before we headed out. Kids can be so befuddling when they're sick: peppy one minute and then tired zombies the next. She was being so cute requesting that I take her picture and shifting her pose each time.

Ok, (somewhat) exciting news that Kate Middleton is pregnant once again, but am I the last to know that Daniel Tiger is a big brother now? This is my life.

In spite of having such a bummer of a sick kids weekend (and another ear pain flareup due to being so tired and rundown), we did enjoy our time as a family sticking close to home. We played with the girls, ate good food, and sat on the deck to soak up some rays. 

Tomorrow we go back to the 2014-15 year of BSF. Mom is going to watch Grace since she is still sick, and I am one of those parents who doesn't like exposing healthy kids to my sick ones. (Novel idea, I know...snark, snark). I am trying to prepare Stella for a new class, new teachers, etc. I am ready and not ready at the same time. BSF is a big commitment, and it's going to be interesting taking two kiddos, one of whom usually naps during the time we will be there. God will provide what I need in the moment, so I'm trusting that promise. And it's not like I HAVE to do BSF. If I find that it's too much to handle, I can always drop out, but I don't think I will. I think it's worth the work of getting two little kids ready. I have made some great friendships there, not to mention learning about God!

I am excited that we're supposed to get cooler weather by the weekend because I love cool, crisp, cozy weather. I thought I had more fall decorations in storage, but no, just a little autumn artwork thingy and some gourd and pumpkin-shaped candles. I love our annual trip to the roadside stands that sell mums, pumpkins, and gourds.

OH! So funny. Lately Stella has been talking about boy clothes and girl clothes. She refuses to wear the adorable jeans I bought her because she has deemed them "boy pants". She went to her room and came back holding some pink and white stripe pajama pants and pink shorts, and informed Brett and me that THESE were girl pants. I was wearing denim, and I said, "So, are these boy pants?" She replied with a very resolute "yes". She prefers wearing frilly dresses, which is all good, but they are summer dresses, so I am going to get her some long-sleeved casual dresses, and I really hope she'll come around and embrace denim as her skinnies look so flipping cute on her. Isn't three years old a little too young to form clothing preferences? Sigh. Today I fought her for ten minutes just convincing her that no, you cannot wear just a shirt and your underwear out on our walk. You have to wear your leggings. 

We decided to keep Stella home another year and forgo preschool this year. I would like to teach her some letters, numbers, etc. everyday, though. She has shown a lot of interest in learning about numbers lately, and she loves working through an Usborne activity about numbers, as well as one about shapes. We are also big fan of Usborne's sticker books. One particularly testy afternoon last week, we worked on one, and it definitely helped regain some sanity!

When I was buying some Usborne items last month online, I asked Stella if she wanted a sticker book about dinosaurs, and she said, "That's for boys." She cracks me up!