Archive for September, 2009

Since we're almost all well now (still some lingering congestion, but no more fever!), we have been enjoying the sudden change in the weather. It rained off and on for 2 weeks, then was hot for a couple of days before starting this spell of cool, clear, and dry weather! Upper 70s during the day and low 50s at night…perfect! We have been playing on the playground after school, and getting outside when we can. Sunday was a pretty warm day, but we were able to take a drive on the Winona Auto Trail, a dirt road that winds along a high ridge and offers several beautiful views of the valleys on either side. Even the kids didn't mind the riding too much…it was such a nice day for driving!

The sunshine has certainly lifted our spirits, which were sagging after the kids and I had been battling this illness for over a week. It is amazing how weather can have such an effect on a person! I am thanking God for the sunshine today, and hoping it decides to stick around for a while (the forecast seems hopeful!) Happy fall!

We had to cancel our weekend get-away with Jay's family this weekend because of our lingering sickness (plus the weather did not appear to be cooperating, either!) I am sad that we won't be able to go, but hopefully we will have a restful weekend and be ready to start a fresh new week of feeling better! I sent James to school today; after running fever again Wednesday, he was back to normal Thursday, and still had no fever this morning, so I made him go. Eliza is feeling much better as well, but still has a bit of fever and a cough that shows up at night. It was rough getting her out of bed this morning to take James to school…she did not want to get up! I have been a little less congested, but feeling feverish the last couple of days. The kids have been pretty good to let me rest when I need to; it's nice that they can take care of themselves for a while! Pretty soon I won't have that luxury again for quite some time!

What's worse than being sick? Being sick and having to take care of 2 sick kids! I'm terribly congested, but it's the kids that have been hit the hardest. James, who was fever-free for 2 days, started running a fever again this morning. He even went to school yesterday! At least he doesn't feel too bad. I'm starting to wonder if he has some sort of secondary infection, since he is still really congested. Eliza is not as congested, but her fever has affected her worse than James'. She is very cranky and tired. She's wearing this sick Mama out! We are hoping that Jay doesn't catch whatever we have, but it's not looking too good. We are supposed to be going out of town this weekend for a get-away with Jay's family. I guess only time will tell if we will be well enough to go. I sure hope we are!

James came home from school Friday looking awful. At first, I thought he had been crying, but when I asked him about it, he told me his teacher had said, "James, your sinuses have been getting worse all day!" Well, it wasn't just his sinuses. He came home and went straight to bed, so when he woke up an hour and a half later, I took his temperature. It was 101.3 degrees, so I gave him some medicine and he slept on and off the rest of the evening. Saturday he just laid around the house, looking miserable except for when his medicine would kick in, and he would be a little more cheerful. He was still running a slight fever Sunday morning, so I left both the kids with Jay while I went to teach Sunday School. James felt much better Sunday, and seems to feel pretty good this morning except for still having a lot of congestion. I kept him and Eliza home from school today just in case, but if he stays fever-free today, he will go to school tomorrow. I am hoping that no one else catches the bug, but at least it seems to be a pretty quick illness!

We had our community group over last night, so I have been cleaning like crazy the last couple of days. It's really sad, but I kind of let the house go over the summer, since we didn't have any company to impress, and the kids were home all the time, and I was really tired all the time from being pregnant, etc. I still didn't get it as clean as I would have liked to, but at least the visible parts looked (and smelled) much better! I even put up some of my fall decorations (the decorations that I had up were from spring!) We are still doing some major rearranging to get ready for baby #3, so there are lots of things that are out of place, but we are making progress! And that's what counts, right?

Major changes have begun at the Parker household! In order to prepare for Baby #3, we decided to get bunk beds for James and Eliza, so that we could turn Eliza's room back into a nursery. We finally got all the pieces and set them up tonight:

James, who has been dreading this day that we would have to disassemble his double bed in order to set up the bunk beds, was actually quite pleased with the results and took the change far better than expected. (James does not like change.) Eliza, who has shown nothing but excitement about the prospect of having her own "big-girl" bed, still took it well, but expressed a little bit of sadness after being in the bed for a few minutes. Here is how our conversation went:

• Eliza: I miss my old bed.

(At this point, I almost told her she could go sleep in it, but I refrained.)

• James: So do I.

• Me: Well, you'll get used to your new bed, I promise.

• James: Mom, your promise better work!

Saying that I have had an easy life is a bit of an understatement. I have never been in dire need, experienced great loss, or even had my heart broken. God has so incredibly blessed me and my family! I know that as I get older, I will inevitably suffer through some hard things, but I know that God is in control, and He will be my comforter and provider. But for now, I am continually amazed by his blessings, knowing that I deserve nothing. Even little things that would be minor inconveniences tend to work out in our favor. Take, for example, my recent screening test for gestational diabetes. I failed the first test, and with a reading above 200 (as mine was), they generally don't make you come in for a second test; they just assume you are diabetic. However, for some reason when I was pregnant with Eliza, they let me come back and do the second test (even though my number was really high), which I passed. Because of that, they decided to let me do the second test this time around, which I once again passed. The lab nurse was stumped; she even went digging through the trash to make sure she had given me the right glucose drink! I don't know why God has decided to pour out his blessings on us, but I am very grateful. Thank you, Lord!

I'm playing catch-up with pictures from the last few weeks, including missing teeth, James' birthday party, and the Children's Museum of Memphis. Hope you enjoy!

James' lost tooth:

James' birthday party:

James' reaction to seeing Chuck E. Cheese's; we surprised him!

Eating pizza

Getting the "star treatment"

James' cake

Presents!

Children's Museum of Memphis:

James controlling the plane in the wind tunnel

Captain Eliza

Cousin Hannah and Eliza fishing

Playing dress-up

James and Eliza climbing in the "Skyscraper"

Policeman James

Jay in the disco room

Here we go again, I guess. I had my one-hour glucose tolerance test done today to screen for gestational diabetes, and I failed it. (My blood sugar was at 215 an hour after drinking the glucose drink; they want it to be less than 140.) It's like deja vu, since I also failed the test when I was pregnant with Eliza (my blood sugar was even worse then, at 232). It means I have to go back for the 3-hour test next Wednesday. I passed the 3-hour test with Eliza, so I'm hoping that that will be the case this time. But who knows? I guess having gestational diabetes is not the worst thing in the world, but I would really rather not have to deal with that. Prayers would certainly be appreciated!

Everything else looks great! The baby would not be still while the doctor was listening to the heartbeat; I guess it was all that extra sugar I had just taken! My weight, blood pressure, and measurements are all normal. I am still feeling pretty good. I do have a lot to be thankful for!

For James' birthday last Thursday, we decided to give him something he's always dreamed of: a surprise party at Chuck E. Cheese's. We only invited family, and everyone had a blast. (Most of my brothers and sisters are just big kids, anyway!) James got the "star treatment", sitting in a chair in front of everyone while he answered the hostess' questions into the microphone. The hostess was very impressed with his detailed answers (she said usually the kids won't talk at all); here is basically how it went:

• Hostess: What is your name?

• James: My name is James.

• Hostess: How old are you, James?

• James: Well, I'm 6 now.

• Hostess: And what is your favorite color?

• James: My favorite colors are pink and red.

• Hostess: Why are those your favorite colors?

• James: Well, pink is a light color, and red is a fiery color.

• Hostess: What is your favorite food?

• James: The first one is a snack, called fruit snacks; and the second is macaroni and cheese.

• Hostess: Everyone give James a big hand!

She then put a medal around his neck, and everyone got to dance and meet Chuck E. Cheese. James really enjoyed his time in the spotlight! After that, we cut the cake and let James open his presents. The hostess was once again impressed when James started reading his birthday cards. He loved Eliza's present, which was a Bakugan; she had begged me earlier to take her to the store to buy one because "that's what James really wants," she said. After he had opened a few more presents, he turned to her and said, "Eliza, your present is still the best!" The rest of the night was spent playing games and picking out prizes. James said it was his "best birthday yet!"

Saturday we packed up and headed to Memphis to spend some time with our families for the long weekend. My grandparents have a trampoline in their backyard, and the kids were playing on it that afternoon with some of my cousins. As I was sitting around talking with family, one of my cousins brought Eliza inside. She was crying, and wouldn't move her arm. She had landed on it funny while they were jumping. It didn't look broken, but she seemed to be in a lot of pain, so after a few minutes of trying to get her to move it, we decided to go have it checked out by a doctor. We went to a minor medical clinic, where we waited 2 hours to see a doctor. Eliza fell asleep in my lap not long after we got there, and slept until a few minutes before it was our turn. When she woke up, she was able to move her arm much more, but she was still in a little bit of pain. The doctor confirmed it wasn't broken, just sprained. By that evening, she was moving it normally with very little complaint, and the next day it was totally fine. We were grateful, but she sure did give us a scare!

Sunday Jay's mom came up from Mississippi to see us, as well as Jill, Robbie, and Hannah, who came over from Jackson, TN. We were staying the night in a hotel with Mammaw, so the kids got to go swimming that afternoon in the hotel's pool. They had a great time! Monday we all met up again at the Children's Museum of Memphis. It is a really neat place, and we all had fun playing with the many exhibits. After eating lunch together, we all parted ways and headed back to our homes. It was a tiring, but fun, weekend!

Poor Eliza. She inherited many of my childhood traits, including a high-pitched, squeaky voice and an inability to say the letter "r" correctly. (I ended up going to a speech class for the first 2 years of school; hopefully she won't have to do that.) Today we were spending some time with my mom before James got out of school, and Eliza, who was sitting in my lap, started singing a song. She was doing a marvelous job with the song, so I decided I would mouth the words along with her. My mom stood there watching me with a strange expression on her face, and when the song was over, she just said, "That was really funny." "What?" I asked. "I just watched you sing a song, but it was your 4-year-old voice singing it." Apparently Eliza sounded so much like my younger self that it wasn't hard for her to imagine that it was really me singing it (even though I look a little older than 4 now). I think it kind of weirded her out!

Eliza also favors some of my childhood pictures. She is not an exact replica (like some kids are!), but it is not hard to see the similarities. Here are some pictures I put together a while back for comparison; I don't think there's any denying she's mine!

Me, age 2 1/2 years; Eliza, age 20 months

Me, around my 2nd birthday; Eliza, age 21 months