Five things that should be a priority but aren't

1. Identifying the mystery keys on my keychain. I have eight keys and only know what six of them do. Although now that I write it down, that percentage seems pretty excellent. I might actually be OK with that.

2. Replacing the burned-out lightbulbs in the kitchen, both bathrooms and laundry area. It is amazing both what you're willing to DO in dim lighting and how LONG you're willing to do it (YEARS). And then when you change the lightbulb, your life improves by like 3% in that split second.

3. Programming the speed dial functions on our home phones. We have three handsets, and I've only programmed in a few numbers on each one. A different set of a few numbers on each one, to be exact. The phones are two years old, so long story short, I'm not sure The Great Programming will ever happen.

4. Cleaning out my purse. Apparently all of my receipts are mating and having little Receipt Babies in there. STOP THAT.

5. Cooking.

Merry Christmas to me

Just before Christmas, I decided it was time for the Annual Pantry Clean-up. Behold the glory:



Keep in mind that it should be a MONTHLY event, not a yearly event, but that's serious pipe-dream territory there. Ain't gonna happen. Just thinking about it turns my grammar all to crap.

Look how easy it is to find my Premium Saltines! My All-purpose Flour! My Ghiradelli brownie mix! Now if I can just train the boys to KEEP it this organized ...

Not that there's anything wrong with that

People have a hard time recommending movies to me because -- even if it's "the best movie EVER" -- they know that if it doesn't have a fairly happy ending or a clear resolution, I'll hate it. Well, maybe not HATE it, but I'll probably complain about it.

I can enjoy a movie that is sort of dark or heavy, but it has to have a payoff for me at the end. Shawshank Redemption and Michael Clayton are good examples of that. The Dark Knight is an example of the OPPOSITE of that.

I've sort of always been that way, but since I had kids, I've gotten even worse about it. It seems like there is so much bad stuff in the world, I just want to focus on the good as much as possible. And I can't figure out why people think there's something wrong with that! Lots of my friends think I'm missing out on some quality entertainment (most recently, Marley & Me) because of my unwillingness to slug through the 5% of sadness in order to enjoy the 95% of happiness. As for life in general, yes, I'm willing to take those percentages. In the entertainment I choose to indulge in during my very little free time, I'm not -- I'd much rather take the sure bet of light and laughter and leave the sad parts behind.

Just watching the nightly news or The Today Show, I have to skillfully duck certain stories -- which I wouldn't have to do if they'd just TRY to give equal air time to the positive stories and the negative. But the negative stories seem to win out ... today on cnn.com I could only click in to read a couple of things out of all the stories they chose to feature on the U.S. page (and don't get me STARTED on the International stories ... I can't even go to that PAGE anymore). Here's what they're offering up today:

Northeast
WGAL: Historic building, classic cars destroyed
WCVB: Peace group fights recruiters in schools
Philly.com: Residents mourn 7 house fire victims
WBAL: Men in dingy tossed into harbor
WABC: 2 escape before house explodes

South
WNCT: Pilot dead after Harrier crash
WPTV: 2 sisters attacked by neighbor's dog
WJXT: Right whale freed from debris
WFTV: Ship's video shows woman go overboard
WTOC: Exploding manholes knock out power

Midwest
WOOD: Thousands without power seek shelter
WISC: Check for thin ice before fishing
KWTV: New McVeigh video opens old wounds
WISN: CO poisoning poses greater threat
WDIV: Losing Lions fire head coach

West
KPHO: Boy wedged between paper stacks
KPHO: 3 burned in grain explosion
KTLA: Woman killed in skydiving accident
KXTV: Oldest living U.S. man dies at 112
KUSA: Town puzzled over missing water

So, the only one I was able to read was "Right whale freed from debris," because it seemed to be heading the right direction. I suppose I could have read about the "missing water," but it sounded boring. But REALLY, CNN? I can only read ONE of your stories today without going into a funk?

I hope someone's New Year's Resolution for '09 is to put more positive energy out there in the form of news and entertainment. Pretty please with a cherry on top?

Slices of Life, Vol. 25

Our church's annual fall hoedown takes place at a farm owned by members of the church; it's about 30 minutes south of Birmingham and is a beautiful, beautiful place. When we attended in November, Grayson took the boys far away from the campfire to a dark spot on the property where they could see hundreds of stars in the sky. Nathaniel was lucky enough to see a shooting star ...

Nathaniel: "DADDY! I saw a shooting star!"

Grayson: "You did? Did you make a wish?"

Nathaniel: "YES! I wished to get The Force." [pause] "I don't feel it yet."

________________________

One Saturday afternoon, following a particularly tough morning with Nicholas, he threw a toy across the room and it hit me. I picked it up and carried it back to him:

Me: "Nicholas, you threw that toy and it hit me. It hurt. I'm going to show you what it felt like."

[I tapped him on the leg with the hard plastic toy.]

Nicholas: "I'm calling the police."



________________________

The boys' cousin, Taylor, spent the night with us recently. He's 8, and he took his role as The Oldest very seriously. While trying to explain to our stubborn boys why they should just agree with him on some issue regarding General Grievous of Star Wars:

Taylor: "Look, I'm twice as old as you, Nicholas, and I'm three years older than you, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel: "Well, I think you're gonna DIE before we do, too."



________________________

The boys love to look at the toy catalogs that come in the mail, joyfully squealing, "Mommy, I need THIS! And THIS! Oh, and I REALLY, REALLY, REEEAAALLLY need THIS!" And they're usually referring to trashy stuff like tiny animal sponges that "grow" when they get wet in the bathtub, or -- even worse -- toys with hundreds of teensy, weensy pieces that will get strewn all over the house.

So typically I throw away 90 percent of the toy catalogs that come in the mail, not even bringing them into the house. I go straight from the mailbox to the recycling can in the driveway, so they don't even see most of what lands in the mailbox to begin with. However, I'll let a "Constructive Playthings" or a "Leaps & Bounds" through the door occasionally so that they don't suspect me of filtering too much. And about once every two months, I'll bring in a Star Wars catalog, too.

Recently I came across a Star Wars catalog laying on the kitchen table, and I threw it in the recycling bin in the kitchen. Sometime later that day, the boys went foraging in the recycling bin, looking for "craft materials":

Nathaniel: [walks in the den holding the Star Wars catalog high aloft his head, like a district attorney with Exhibit A] "Mommy, how exactly did THIS end up in the recycling?"

Nicholas: [in a singsong voice] "Tell da troof!"

_________________________________

One night after work as we were all getting out of the minivan, I was busily gathering up my things from the passenger seat and had my door open to get out. As I turned to get out of the car, I saw Nicholas squirming under my door to get past it and into the house, sort of low-crawling on his belly.

Me: "Nick! Could you not just wait 10 seconds until I got out of the car? Did you have to crawl under my door?"

Nathaniel: [observing, shaking his head at me] "Mommy, sometimes kids have to crawl under doors, just because they CAN."

________________________________

We lost our cat of 12 years to kidney failure in November, and Nathaniel has been vigilant in praying for her every night, making sure God doesn't forget about her. While praying for Ellie to have found peace in Heaven:

Nathaniel: "Dear Lloyd, I hope that Ellie has found a warm spot in Heaven and that she has a big box to play in. Also, I hope you're playing with a string with her. And also, I hope she's in a club. Ay-men."

Nicholas: "Dear Law-ed, please take good care of Ellie. And even though SOME PEOPLE say 'Ay-men,' I KNOW it's really 'Ah-men.' Ah-men."

________________________________

Me: "Nathaniel, you can wear a sweater today because it's going to be freezing."

Nathaniel: "WHAT??"

Me: "You can wear a ..."

Nathaniel: [interrupts] "I heard you, Mommy. When you say something and I say, 'What?', that just means 'What?' But when you say something and I say, 'WHAT??', that really means, 'I can't believe it!' "

________________________________

While playing Lego Indiana Jones on the Wii last weekend, Nicholas made a critical miscalculation and announced:

"THAT is a problem. Not a BIG problem, but it's definitely a problem."

________________________________

One morning Nicholas was playing with Jake on our bed while I got ready for work. I heard Jake sneeze twice, and then Nick exclaimed:

"Mommy, Jake just 'Bless You'd' in my hand!"

To see past Slices of Life, click here.

Merry Christmas!

Nick's blue lips and teeth courtesy of a cupcake before pictures.

What a dweeb

I'm a big Carrie Underwood fan, as I think I've mentioned before. And most of the time, I can tell what she's singing because she enunciates pretty well.

An exception is her current charting single, "Just a Dream." In the chorus, I can't tell whether she's singing "He's a'comin' home now" or "He's NOT comin' home now." But it doesn't really matter (except that they mean the exact opposite of one another); I'll just switch back and forth between the two when I'm singing in the car, and I'll be right 50 percent of the time. P.S. to the songwriters: this song doesn't make any sense. Neither does the video. *

But I digress. I was ORIGINALLY going to say that I totally embarrassed myself the other day while driving and singing in the car. And you know if you're alone and you embarrass YOURSELF, you must have done something pretty stupid.

So I'm singing along to Carrie's "All-American Girl." And we come into the chorus and I'm belting it out at top volume:

And now, he's wrapped around her finger
She's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect
North American girl.

Oh, wait. What did I just sing? "NORTH AMERICAN GIRL"? Where in the heck did THAT come from? I'm not sure why, but it made me feel anti-something. Anti-what, I don't know. Anti-Australian? Anti-British? But no worries ... I was well into the next verse.

And then I did it AGAIN. So now I'm [pretty legitimately] afraid I'll never be able to sing it correctly again.


* If you aren't familiar with "Just a Dream," the first verse goes:

It was two weeks after the day she turned eighteen
All dressed in white
Going to the church that night
She had his box of letters in the passenger seat
Sixpence in a shoe, something borrowed, something blue
And when the church doors opened up wide
She put her veil down
Trying to hide the tears
Oh she just couldn't believe it
She heard trumpets from the military band
And the flowers fell out of her hand.

I THINK they were engaged but he died while away at war, so she went to his funeral instead of their wedding. The second verse says she received a folded flag, and I'm not sure if that would go to her if they weren't married yet, or to his parents instead. I hoped the video would clear it up, so I TiVoed the CMT Top 20 Countdown over the weekend. Alas, it's a strict interpretation of the lyrics, SO IT DIDN'T HELP AT ALL.

The results are in

I took Jake to the prosthetics & orthotics company for his evaluation last week to see if he needs to wear a cranial band. (See prior related entries here.)

The whole process was really cool. First, the technician fashioned a little sock cap for him to wear to eliminate fibers or hair that could affect the quality of the scan. Then she attached a sensor to the top of the cap to mark the starting point for each scan.

Next, she blipped the laser scanner at the top of his head (on the sensor) and dragged it down his head all the way around (it took about eight scans to go all the way around his head.) I wasn't able to take pictures of that part, because I had to hold him still. That was as difficult as it sounds.

As she scanned, a 3-D image of his head appeared on her laptop. The first scan was pretty good, but he moved around a good bit, so we repeated the process twice more. While she scanned, he was allowed to play with some beads she gave him so that he wouldn't squirm so much. (In the picture below, he was still playing with them after we were all done.) The tech is supposed to e-mail me the 360-degree views of his head, but I haven't gotten them yet. If I do, I'll update with those later.

Eventually we got a great scan. The tech analyzed the measurements and gave me the results about 15 minutes later: Jake's skull shape is well within normal range. As a matter of fact, it is "rounder than most children's heads," she said! She couldn't clinically justify prescribing a cranial band (like the helmet Nathaniel wore, but far less bulky and restrictive), so we left with nothing but our good spirits!

Great news, as although the helmet Nathaniel wore was a very effective treatment for his plagiocephaly, it was inconvenient and quite stinky -- no matter how often I cleaned it. So we are very grateful that Jake's head is shaping up well on its own!

Buying for 10

Between the three boys in the house, I needed to buy 10 teachers' gifts for Christmas. TEN. I would have typed "buy or make," but let's get real.

Sometime over the last few months I saw a great idea on a blog somewhere, but I can't remember where. I'd gladly give them credit, but I honestly can't remember where I saw it. Over the last few months, I've been linking willy-nilly to all sorts of blogs I don't regularly read, so it's a blur. Anyway, I thought this idea was so cute, I'd adopt it this year if I could find the plants cheaply enough.

Here's the deal: You buy a plant of some sort. I found mini-poinsettias at my local Publix supermarket for $3.99 each. They had great color and were in good condition, and the pots were wrapped in colorful paper ... and the soil was moist, so I could tell they were cared for daily.


Next, you make little tags. This part was easy, because I have so much extra scrapbooking material lying around. The tags say, "Thanks for helping me grow." The original idea proposed gluing the tag to a popsicle stick and poking it in the pot, but I couldn't find popsicle sticks. My sole original addition to the idea was to print out wallet-size pictures of my boys and attach them with the gift tags.



And, voila! Cute teacher's gifts that they can enjoy throughout the holidays and hopefully a little beyond.


I'm happy to report that all of the teachers claimed to be thrilled with the gifts when we delivered them on Friday. It went over so well, I might make it an annual tradition.

I've seen the future

"I now call to order the first official meeting of the Future Geeks of America."

Six!

Today Nathaniel turns 6 years old!

Blink and you'll miss it. He'll be in college before you know it. It seems like he was born yesterday. At this stage in your life, the days seem like years and the years seem like days.

Every single cliche is true. Happy 6th birthday, baby.

Six!

Nathaniel,

So much has changed in the past year! In April we welcomed Jake into the family, making you a big brother for the second time. You’ve handled it just as well as you did the first time, but I’ve also asked you to take on more responsibility this time. Just last week when I asked you to do something, you whined, “But I have to do SO MUCH now. I have to get burpcloths and diapers and wipes and pacis when you ask me to.” And that’s all true! I DO ask a lot of you, because you are so capable of doing so much more than you’ve ever been before.



You love Jake so very much, and you are tender and loving with him. Like you were with Nicholas, you just can’t wait until he’s old enough to play with you … although you’ve also said that you want him to remain a baby forever! You love having a baby in the house, and you are very diligent about helping take care of him. And the love is mutual! Jake lights up whenever you or Nicholas walk into the room … he loves to give you little hugs and just beams whenever you guys play with him.



The second big milestone of your year was STARTING KINDERGARTEN in August. I remember that I was a little apprehensive last year about you starting public school. I needn’t have worried for a moment! The first day of school, you elected to ride on the bus, and you jumped on and were gone in the blink of an eye. No fear, just excitement. You made friends immediately, and you’ve never looked back; I’m so proud of you for making such a seamless adjustment, and for continuing to be an obedient, pleasant student.



You and Nicholas continue to have such a wonderful sibling relationship; you are a great example to him, as well as his best friend. Luckily you enjoy most of the same things, and although you don’t get along ALL the time, you certainly love each other more than I could ever have hoped, and it makes me feel so blessed to watch you play together. You love sharing a bedroom – although you get frustrated if you’re sleepy and he wants to talk to you all night – and you’ve asked if when Jake gets a little older, he can just move in with the two of you! (Umm, no.)



I love coming in to give you a kiss goodnight on my way to bed and seeing you sleeping peacefully. I love the way you run up and give me a big hug when I pick you up from after-school care. I love that you love to be tickled until you lose your breath. I love the way you show affection to everyone in our family. I love the light that shines from within you. I love being your mommy, every day and every night, and I am so excited to see how much you change and grow this year.

Love,
Mommy

Apparently we're raising a gentleman

Two weeks ago after Joyce came to clean, Nathaniel asked if he could write her a letter to tell her what a great job she does. (We all love a clean house!) He only needed help spelling a few things in his heartfelt letter.

In case you can't make it out, it says: "Joyce, you do a good job making our bed. Nathaniel" We left it on the counter for her to find today, and she left him a note back telling him how nice it was to hear from him and how glad she is that he appreciates her.

I'm proud of him for wanting to write the letter. I'm possibly MORE proud of him for noticing what a good job she does making the bed.

I liked it better the first time

Today at lunch in a crowded, loud restaurant:

Rylan: Have I told you how much I'm still enjoying Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles?
Me: No, but I'm glad it hasn't disappointed you the way Heroes eventually did.
Rylan: Yeah, it's still good. You know, Brian Awesome Green is in it.
Me: What did you just say?
Rylan: BRIAN AUSTIN GREEN IS IN IT.
Me: Oh. I thought you said, "BRIAN AWESOME GREEN is in it."
Rylan: Let's say I did.

2008 Christmas Tour of Homes!

BooMama's Annual Christmas Tour of Homes has returned! Click in to see people's homes all over the country decorated for Christmas, as well as pick up some great recipes. I'm participating this year, so here we go!


I noticed AFTER I'd taken and uploaded these pictures that the garland on the left side of my railing had fallen down. It looks like a gym sock that's lost its elastic. As much as I'd like to re-take the picture, I'm not going to. LOOK AT ME, ALL LAID-BACK ABOUT IT. I'm turning over a new anti-anal-retentive leaf for the holidays.



This is the wreath on our front door. This year I retired my grapevine wreath to indoors, even though I loved the way it looked on the front door. We have a family of birds whose nest has reaped the rewards of being near our grapevine wreath for the past five years or so. The mama and daddy birds have been picking at my wreath for so long that it doesn't have much "pretty stuff" left on it so this year I'm "freshening up."



I'm sure in a matter of days the cute little raffia will be gone, off lining the nest, but here's hoping that the fruit and pinecones stay put. If those little birds manage to carry off the fruit and pinecones, then by all means, they deserve them.



Here's the mantle, and you'll note the grapevine wreath up there. The prissy stuff used to cover about half of the wreath, and the top and sides didn't used to look quite so hen-pecked.

Our stockings are pretty plain; I'm trying to wait to have them embroidered with our names until we're completely sure we're done having kids. Because, you know, it would be TRAGIC if I had five done in one style and then couldn't get a sixth one done to match EXACTLY in a few years. Not that we're having another. But not that we AREN'T, either. That's a whole nother post. Moving on ...


The only other nod to Christmas in our den is my set of grapevine cones with red-and-green stuff inside. What says "Christmas" better than grapevine cones next to the Wii and the big-screen TV? I can't think of anything.


Here's our tree, which I always try to put in one of the front windows so it can be seen from outside. Last year our white-light tree bit the dust ... we looked so Kuntry last year because the middle tier of lights was out and three of the six bottom boughs were broken and hanging askew. So after I took all the ornaments off the tree after Christmas, our poor tree went out to the curb.

I'd promised the boys that our replacement tree for this year would have multi-colored lights, and they didn't forget it. This year it was the very first thing they asked about when I told them Christmas was approaching. So here we are with our colored-lights tree!

My very favorite element of our tree every year is the collection of annual photo ornaments. I started with Nathaniel in 2002 and have continued to add one each year for each child. I have always bought mine at Pottery Barn, but I've seen them in several places. The best thing about this is that even if you've never done it before, you can start any time. Just buy the number of ornaments you need and have them engraved with the appropriate year.



Nathaniel, 2005.



Nicholas, 2005



Jake, 2008

I have given some thought to the fact that if I do this for 18 years for three boys, that's a LOT of ornaments. 18 x 3 ... hmmm, practically triple digits, by my calculations. I might need another tree.



This year our little Jedis have their own tree in their room. It has most of our Disney, Star Wars and other kid-style ornaments on it (including a TiVo ornament that they love!), and they are absolutely thrilled to have a tree of their very own.




The only other Holiday Spot in the house is in the guest room, where I have one of my favorite Santas on the dresser. He'll be there to welcome my parents and sister when they come into town for Christmas.


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Buggin'

1. AnnaLynne McCord, who plays Naomi on the new 90210, looks an awful lot like Charlize Theron (good thing) in the early '90s (bad thing). Note to her stylist: time for an update.

2. Carla on Top Chef. What is UP with her eyes? And her mannerisms?

3. And speaking of Top Chef, apparently they STILL haven't been able to figure out how to pick up everything Padma says during the taping of the show. They still add obviously dubbed lines, which they've been suffering from since Season 1. Distracting.

4. The facial hair of John Patrick Amedori on Gossip Girl. When he comes onto the screen, it's like I'm looking at the sun. I have to look away immediately. Shave already.

5. Brothers & Sisters' Tommy Walker is highly annoying. Again, like looking at the sun. Please fix his character. Thank you.

The siren song

They built a restaurant for me! Just for me! All for me!

Unfortunately, it's in Minnesota.


My sister discovered it while in St. Paul last weekend, and she took a picture for me. Their Web site says, "We start baking at 3am every day to have fresh warm bread and scones ready by 9am." Puh-leeze. You had me at "We."

When I get to Heaven, God will be saving me a seat at a booth in His restaurant that is JUST LIKE THIS.

Good things

1. Turning the TV to the "Seasonal Favorites" channel around 7:30 each night, winding down before bedtime with the boys, listening to old Christmas standards while talking about their day
2. Alison Krauss
3. Big Daddy Weave
4. Acoustic strumming. No embellishment. How come nobody just does THAT anymore?
5. A cappella done well, with lots of syncopation
6. David Archuleta's Crush. SO. CATCHY.
7. The way the boys beg me to turn it to "Channel 3" on the radio (Magic 96) every time we get in the car, so they can listen to Christmas music the whole month
8. Carrie Underwood
9. Duets by musicians you already love, who end up sounding great together
10. Faith Hill's Where Are You, Christmas? I've loved it since I first heard it.

Home, sweet home

Here is what you SHOULD take when you go to the hospital, EVEN IF you think you'll only be there a few hours (in no particular order):

1. Cell phone
2. Cell phone charger
3. Laptop
4. Laptop power cord
5. Toothbrush
6. Saline solution and contact thingie
7. Feminine hygiene products
8. Book
9. Bookmark
10. Pillow
11. Blanket
12. Camera

Here is what I took:

1. My purse
2. My one-quarter charged cell phone
3. A book (one small triumph!)

Here is what you should WEAR to the hospital, even if you think you'll only be there a few hours:

1. Elastic-waist pants
2. A T-shirt that disguises spit-up
3. A comfy cardigan

Here is what I wore:

1. Jeans in size Just Barely Fit
2. A black T-shirt
3. A cute pink jacket from Talbot's

Note to self: A person whose day job is PROJECT MANAGER should really have done a better job of planning this little jaunt to the hospital.

I DO give myself props, however, for sending my little point-and-shoot camera to the ER with Grayson. I knew I'd need some shots for Jake's scrapbook and the blog, and I was pretty sure Grayson would have time to take a few. Prepare to reap the benefits of that forethought, My Internet Peeps.

Here is Jakey right before they left the house on Wednesday night, flushed and dazed, breathing 89 times per minute:


And here is what he looked like in Triage (not appreciably different, but handclaps to Grayson for taking the picture. I owe it to him to post it. OH! And he had the pulse-ox monitor attached already.) And look, Aunt Debbie! I remembered to put socks on him. It IS December, after all:


Anyway, as for what happened when Jake was admitted, Grayson called around 1:30 a.m. to say that they were trying to find a bed for Jake in the step-down unit and he was going to come home and get some sleep.

[Ahem.]

To which I answered, "HELL, NO. I'm really not comfortable with that. I'm going to need you to stay there for the night, and I'll come take over after I take Nathaniel and Nicholas to school in the morning."

And there was some gnashing of teeth about sleeping upright in a chair in the waiting room, et cetera, et cetera, and some silence from me, et cetera, et cetera, and then it was decided. He was staying.

So Jake waited on a gurney for a while, playing with his New Toy, the lead line for his pulse-ox monitor! Christmas came early, Mommy. Lots of fun was had.



He finally fell asleep on the gurney for about an hour:


Then they had to wake him up to go to step-down (the step-down unit from the ICU) around 3:30 a.m. The Happiest Child in the World kept busy by playing with boxes of petroleum jelly, a package of wipes and the lead lines to his resp monitors, and he had a little harem of nurses who were just captivated by him.



He fell asleep and rested well until morning, while Grayson "slept" in the waiting room until he could go back and see him around 8:45. (In step-down, you can visit the children during specified hours but have to take breaks, as well.)

I got there around 9:15 yesterday morning to relieve Grayson and was so glad to see Little Man. He was adorable, but looked tired and was still wheezy.


Jake was in the first bed as you enter the unit, and everyone who came in (about 15 people an hour) exclaimed over what a cute little "Welcome Wagon" he was and how great it was to come into the unit and see this "Little Linebacker" grinning hello to them. This is what it looked like when you came through the door:


As soon as you cleared the threshhold, you got a huge grin and sometimes a giggle (and some Peach drool):


Mid-morning yesterday we had a surprise visit from one of his daycare teachers, Ms. Ann, who brought him a balloon and a fuzzy blue bear that he loved. She and his other teacher, Ms. Faye, just couldn't STAND the thought of their Favorite Baby being in the hospital, so she had to come see for herself that he was really OK. He just lit up with joy when he saw her.


If I haven't mentioned it before, we are so fortunate to have such great child-care providers. They love all of our kids like they're their own. Ms. Ann drove 20 miles up to Children's to see him on her break, then went back to report to all the other concerned teachers. What sweet, sweet women!


After the visit from Ms. Ann, the day was a blur of vitals checks, doctors' rounds, meals, one short nap and weighing diapers. UNTIL Nurse Rebecca brought us THIS last night:



Still hooked up to his monitors, he went to town in that thing. And let me tell you, he entertained the ENTIRE UNIT for an hour while he played in the jumper. Parents of other kids kept coming by to watch him because he was such a little ray of light on the unit. In a million years, you would never have guessed that he was sick in the least:



About five minutes after I extracted him from the jumper, he spit up most of his supper, but I suppose it was worth it. Although my black T-shirt would beg to disagree.

Last night around 11:00 we finally got moved to a regular room on the floor, and aside from the hourly vitals/oxygen sats checks, Jakey and I had a "quiet" night in our own room. Here are our new digs:


He slept well, considering the regular interruptions to his night ... he only woke up for the BP checks, and he went right back to sleep each time. What an angel!


This morning during rounds, the resident said he'd feel comfortable discharging him to come home with the Albuterol treatments to be administered as needed by us, but the attending had to sign off on the discharge orders first. He doesn't have the same "light" in his eyes this morning that he did last night ... seems a little more puny ... but I'll still be happy to have him home.


Grayson came in to relieve me around 9 a.m., and I stayed until 10:30 hoping to see the attending, but she didn't arrive before I had to leave. However, he just called and said they've been given the "All Clear" to leave, so I assume I'll be seeing them within the hour.

It was sort of surreal, taking this sort of a journey with Jake. When I think of how much worse it could have been, I shudder. Knowing that we had to wait for hours and hours to be moved to a "regular" room because the hospital was so full they had no room for us made me sad. Not sad for us, the family who would hopefully be leaving within 24 hours, but sad for all the families who wouldn't.

Walking the halls past all the Christmas trees, listening to the high-school carolers in the lobby, seeing handmade Christmas cards taped to the bottom of lots of the kids' beds ... it reminded me of visiting our friend Lydia Schuster there last Christmas, as she was battling leukemia. The Schusters were there for months, through Christmas and well into this year, before heading across the country to Seattle to beat the leukemia there, once and for all.

Little Lydia is healed now, against the 75% odds that she wouldn't survive. And the staff and doctors at Children's, both here and in Seattle, are largely to credit for that. Wonderful people, they are, and they took great care of us while we were there, even though our stay was among the shorter ones. We are so appreciative of them and of the Lord, who took care of Jakey!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support this week. And sorry for all the unanswered calls and e-mails over the last two days! Hopefully the pictures and videos make you feel like you didn't miss much, after all. Here's one more from Jakey to you!