Our weekend

Rebekah was supposed to have her birthday party with her friends on Saturday, but we ran into a roadblock. Friday evening my parents came to the house to give Rebekah her gift. It was already getting late for dinner, and neither of the kids were eager to eat. They finally did eat, but not much. Rebekah looked rather peaked by the time my parents left. I figured she was just really tired from all the birthday celebrations and adrenaline from the past couple of days.

The next morning Rebekah acted really tired. She laid down on the couch to watch cartoons with Joshua and ended up falling asleep. Wow! She must be really tired! Not long after she started vomiting. We spent that morning getting Rebekah and everything around her cleaned up, taking care of her, calling the location of the party for reschedule, and calling parents of our guests.

Rebekah felt much better by the afternoon, but we opted to keep her home on Sunday morning from church as well even though she never had a fever. My mom offered to keep Rebekah for us so Darrin and I could attend church together. When Joshua woke up he was acting rather abnormal, unlike himself. He was more testy than usual, and he just didn't seem right. Since my mom was already keeping Rebekah we decided to let Joshua stay home as well. After church my mom informed us that he had diarrhea, and when Darrin check his temperature he discovered Joshua had a low-grade fever. We were so thankful we had kept him home!

Rebekah was tired most of Sunday, but by the time she got a fair amount of food on her stomach she was feeling back to normal. We decided to let her attend Cubbies while my mom kept Joshua again that night. Rebekah attended preschool yesterday while Joshua stayed home with me. He was still sick with a low-grade fever and not eating as much as normal. However, he wasn't thrilled about missing preschool after I dropped Rebekah off through the car line, but he calmed down quickly on the way home.

As of last night, Joshua still had a low-grade fever. If he is still sick this morning I will call the doctor. I'm thinking it is probably just a little bug he has, but today will make it day 3, so I want to be pre-cautious as well.

Good news, however!!! Today at nearly 17 weeks we are going to see the OB and should find out if the kids are having a little brother or a little sister! Be watching for the big announcement! I had accidentally scheduled for last Monday when the kids were in preschool and then remembered I wanted them to go with us and find out when we do, especially Rebekah. When I was pregnant with Joshua Rebekah went with us to see the ultrasound and see that we were having a baby, so I wanted Joshua to have this experience as well, but since he's been sick he won't be going with us this time. However, I'm really glad that Rebekah will go with us to find out what her little sibling will be.

So, what do you think? Do you think it will be a boy or a girl? I really don't have an inkling this time other than that Rebekah had prayed for a baby sister before we even got pregnant. I will be happy with either another daughter or another son. I love having both a girl and a boy, and they each have their special advantages. So, I leave you guessing until next time.

Happy Birthday, America!

Well, I'm posting this on the day after the anniversary of our country's birth, but I wanted to take some time to post this weekend to recognize the speciality of the occasion. Although we have separate holidays to recognize our veterans on Veteran's Day and those who died for our American freedoms on Memorial Day, Independence Day is a great time to remember and honor them as well as our active military. It is because of these men and women that we have the freedoms we do, and I am so thankful for their service.

But even more than that I thank the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we might be free from sin. Through Him we are free from the power of sin and will one day be free from the presence of sin.

I heard this quote recently by Glenn Sasscer, found it in a Memorial Day post on his blog, and posted it on my Facebook because it is so true and relevant to our lives and this holiday.

John 15:13 tells us, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” For this, we know there have only been two friends who have died on our behalf: the American Soldier and Jesus Christ. The American Soldier died so we may have physical freedom; Jesus Christ died so we may have spiritual freedom. The American Soldier died so we may be free of the tyranny of men; Jesus Christ died so we may be free from the tyranny of evil. And, just as many Americans need to be reminded of the sacrifice of the American Soldier, so should they be reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Below are a couple of songs we sang at church last week for our patriotic musical. (We sang the choral arrangements, however.) They blessed me so much as we sang them in the morning services. We had an extremely powerful service with all the music along with the message shared by former Sen. David Fowler. You can listen/watch the message here.

Because of the Brave


This next song is particularly poignant as it not only remembers those who have died for our American freedoms, but focuses on the One who gave His life for our spiritual freedom. Warning: If you have little ones it is graphic with the crucifixion scene.

Freedom's Never Free


As a Christian, I am very proud of our American heritage and the foundations on which our country was built. The secularism that has filtered in to this great country over the years does not want to recognize that America is in fact a Christian nation. In fact, many don't want Christianity to have a place at all in the decision-making of laws or to have any part of our great country. I encourage you to check out We the People Ministries to learn more about our Christian heritage with complete sources and quotes in context of what our founding fathers said and meant. I am proud that a friend of mine and his brother have started this website with articles, links, and other resources.

In addition, Hobby Lobby, a Christian-owned arts and crafts store chain, put out an entire page in our local newspaper yesterday dedicated to quotes from our founding fathers and early leaders on various topics related to life in America. If you receive the Chattanooga Times-Free Press and haven't seen it you can find it on page A4.

So, how did we spend our Independence Day? Friday afternoon I took Joshua to have his hair cut. On our way home he fell asleep in the car at 2:00. This is not like him, but I chalked it up to him being overly tired due to not having had a nap the previous day. When we arrived home Darrin noticed he felt warm, but he figured it was due to riding in the car. Joshua took a good nap, but about 15-30 minutes after he awoke he had crawled up in my lap and cuddled with me for a solid 30 minutes. I knew something must be wrong for him to be acting this way. Joshua naturally has a warm forehead, so I don't generally jump to checking his temperature if he feels warm, but since he was acting rather lethargic I checked it to discover it was 103.6! I called the nurse, and about 30 minutes later when I still hadn't heard back from the nurse, and with the holiday approaching, Darrin encouraged me to go on ahead and take him to the new after-hours pediatric office.

No one was at the clinic, so we were in and out in just over 30 minutes. The physician's assistant felt strongly that since the fever was his only symptom that it was most likely a virus, but after a strep test they discovered a faint positive. We had caught it early. Joshua has not been on the antibiotic for 48 hours yet, but his fever is gone, so it appears he is no longer contagious, although we are keeping him home today for precaution.

Yesterday Joshua felt pretty good as long as his fever was being treated and his temperature was down. We had to cancel our plans with my parents for lunch, and I had been hoping Darrin would take us to Coolidge Park for the symphony concert and fireworks this year, but we had to cancel that as well. Instead Darrin grilled out for us and then we took the kids outside to play for a while. That evening I made ribs for the first time (not too bad for a first attempt, but definitely not as good as Sticky Fingers), we watched "A Capitol Fourth" on T.V., then we went outside to shoot off some Roman candles and such. Joshua was scared and wanted to be held the whole time, and Rebekah liked watching from a distance. The kids were not interested in sparklers, so Darrin did just one. A couple of our neighbors shot off real fireworks in their yard. Although the trees hid them some it was fun enjoying them as well. Rebekah really liked them a lot. Neither of the kids had seen fireworks in real life before (Darrin hates to fight the crowds at such places, so we've not been), and I think it will be fun for them if we can do it next year.

So, although we were not able to spend the day with my parents or enjoy the concert and professional fireworks, we made the most of our day and enjoyed it as a family.

Sick and Tired Part 2

Come to find out, my thyroid may not be the problem afterall, but I'm still going to have the blood work done. I called my endo's office, and it was only April when I was last seen, so I'm not due until next April to go back. If my blood work returns normal there will be no need for an office visit at this time.

However, I got sick yesterday, and that may be why I've been so exhausted this week. I'm sure I got something from the kids. Rebekah had a very low-grade fever on Thursday evening and was better by Friday but dragging. We were planning to go to a Christmas party last night with our new Bible fellowship (i.e. Sunday school) class, but since the kids were sick our sitter opted out. I'm so glad she did because I ended up getting sick, and I would have hated for her to catch something from the kids as well. By the evening last night I was feeling pretty bad, and I ended up having a very low-grade fever like Rebekah had. I am feeling better but still weak. I am having to miss out on playing piano for caroling for the elderly with our Bible fellowship class as well. I just hope we are all well for my birthday on Wednesday and can enjoy the rest of the Christmas season. Around this time last year our entire family endured a horrible stomach bug and one year I endured vertigo that hit Christmas Eve, so at least this isn't as bad, but I hate being sick around the holidays.

A Busy Week

This week has been a hectic week for me, but it's been full of fun! Sunday after church we ate a quick lunch then I took Rebekah to an annual Mother/Daughter Tea that I have attended for several years. Rebekah has gone since she was a baby. A woman in our church decorated her house from top to bottom on the inside, and it's just gorgeous! She has several parties each Christmas, and this is one that I attend. Each year Julia does a theme for her decorations, and this year it is a red and white Christmas Tree.

Here Rebekah and I are before heading off to the tea.



As we walked into Julia's home and received our handmade red and white Christmas tree pin Rebekah found one of her friends from church and immediately left me to join her friend on the couch. I wish I had a small camera to take their picture. The girls looked so grown up sitting there in their Christmas dresses. Throughout the early part of the party I could really see how much Rebekah was becoming a little lady. She got her own plate and selected a few goodies to eat (although I had to tone her down on how much of one thing she got), then she took her plate off with her to rejoin her friend. No need to hang around Mommy like in the past! She later came to me for punch, but once she had that she took off with it.

Later during the party she discovered the stairs to the basement as well as the stairs to the second floor, and she had much fun exploring the house. It was humorous to me that she still finds stairs entertaining, but I'm sure a lot of that is because we do not have stairs in our house. Overall, we had a really nice time at the tea, and it was great catching up with other women I don't get to see often at church or who have gone on to other churches over the last few years. And of course, many women do not get to see the children much at church, so it was a treat for them to see how much they have grown.

On Monday Joshua took a Play Gym class at the Creative Discovery Museum. I thought it would be a good class for Joshua since I had heard it provides a variety of activities including movement, music, and art. I was a bit disappointed in the class. It does not provide nearly as much movement as I had expected, and the art was something I could do with Joshua at home. There is little music as well, and if I really wanted to pursue music I could do Kindermusik later, but Joshua needs the physical exercise and has the need to tumble.

Yesterday Joshua tried a gym class at The Little Gym, and it was much more what I think will meet his needs. I've signed him up to start classes in January. A few things he wasn't as crazy about, but the more he is exposed to them the more he will like them. Rebekah also had her Little Gym class last night, so I was out there twice in one day. Rebekah is having so much fun in her gymastics class and is really looking forward to taking the dance/gym class in January.

Today Rebekah and I joined a few of our playgroup friends to see a school version of the Nutcracker. I had intended to play the music for about a week for Rebekah, but I didn't get around to finding the music until Sunday, so we really listened to it a lot yesterday. We danced to the music, especially the "Waltz of the Flowers", and Rebekah told me she was a purple flower. Joshua even joined us last night as we danced! It was neat to see Rebekah enjoy the ballet today, and she liked knowing some of the music that accompanied the dancers after having listened to the Nutcracker Suite some. After today's first time attending the ballet this will definitely be an annual event for us, and eventually for Joshua.

This morning Joshua slept in until 8:30, which is really unusual for him. I took him on to my mom's on our way to the ballet, and when I got him home he had a temperature of 101.1. I gave him some Tylenol and got him down for a nap. He slept for about an hour then I got him back down again, and he's still asleep at 6:00. I hope he sleeps tonight!

I was exhausted, so I went to bed to rest while Rebekah played and watched a movie. She came into my room and told me she had to wash her hands. She had gotten into the Tylenol, had drunk some, and poured the rest onto the carpet! I made a call to Poison Control although Rebekah claimed she only took 3 sips. Nothing like feeling like you're going to have to take one child to the ER to have their stomach pumped while the other one is needing rest desperately due to sickness! And to top it off, Darrin is out of town! To my relief, even if Rebekah had drunk a half bottle of Tylenol she would have been within the range of a safe dosage, and she obviously didn't drink that much since so much of it was poured out of the bottle onto the floor. Why is it that stuff like this happens when Darrin is out of town?

Oh, I hope we all sleep well tonight! I'm going to need it!

I've finally finished our Christmas cards and ordered them. If you have not received a card from us in the past and would like to receive one let me know your address and I'll be sure to add you to our list. My email address is Beethoven75 at comcast dot net.

Sickness

This week, and particularly this weekend, has been rough for our family. Earlier this week Joshua had a couple of days of clinginess and not wanting to nap. Every time I put him down for a nap he fought it, and once he did go to sleep he awoke after only about 45 minutes. I decided to take Joshua to see the pediatrician, and he not only has another ear infection (possibly not healed from the last time), but his other ear is infected as well, so he's got a double ear infection. Joshua is still really cuddly with me and struggles going down for a nap, but he seems to be better, although he is nursing a lot more this week.

On the flip side, Joshua is walking around full-time now. He only crawls to get to something to pull up, but he's walking all over the place these days. He's enjoying his newfound skill.

Thursday night/Friday morning in the middle of the night I woke with chills and aches in my legs. After taking some Tylenol I felt better, and after eating breakfast and taking a shower I felt stronger, so I ran some last-minute errands to prepare for Rebekah's party that was planned for today. By the time I got home I had the chills and aches again. I had a low-grade fever of 100.1. Rebekah was asleep on her bed by this time, which is unheard of for her, and when she woke 3 hours later I checked her temp. It was 101.2 orally. I called the moms of Rebekah's guests and rescheduled the party for next week. I was disappointed in a way, but relieved because I really didn't feel well.

Darrin also went to the doctor for a sinus infection, but it was caught early, so he's feeling much better already. Rebekah is feeling better also, but at times she says she is well and other times she says she is sick. I'm still not completely well yet. Hopefully in another day we'll all be feeling lots better.

Good News!

Rebekah seems to be over the hump and recovering from her virus! Praise God! Yesterday I was concerned that she might have a UTI, so I took her to the pediatrician. We tried to get a urine sample, but she wouldn't do anything, so they pricked her finger to do some blood work. Her white count is perfect, so they sent us home with a urine test to check for a UTI. I haven't had a chance to test with it yet, but we are pretty confident that her urine is just really concentrated and her bladder is most likely not infected. The pediatrician told us it is probably just a really stubborn virus.

Well, wouldn't you know? Yesterday evening Rebekah was acting more like her normal self. She started jumping on top of Darrin and me while we were resting on the couches. She was definitely feeling much better, and her fever was gone. It hasn't returned since! I can tell that Rebekah is on the mend. She is not 100% yet, but she's definitely improving. She even started picking on Joshua again, so you know that is a good sign (sort of). Today we are staying home so Rebekah can continue to rest and recover.

Another Update on Rebekah

Last night Darrin kept the kids while I went to a cooking class on seafood then did some shopping. I had promised Rebekah that I would kiss her good-night when I got home, although she would be asleep. When I kissed her forehead it felt really hot to me. She had had a dose of Motrin at 6:30, and here it was 10:30, so the Motrin should not have worn off yet. I checked her temperature orally first and thought I saw 103.something. Of course, I was quite concerned about this reading, so I checked her temperature rectally. Fortunately, she was so out of it that she let me check it twice. I got a reading of 102.5 then 102.7. I rechecked her orally and got a reading of 101.3, so this was pretty accurate. She got a dose of Tylenol, but it was worn off by this morning, and her oral temp had gone back up to 101.2. I had to force Robitussin and Tylenol down her since she fought taking it. She cries every time she coughs due to her sore throat.

Rebekah's urine also is dark and has a strong odor to it. I'm afraid that she isn't drinking enough because her throat hurts. I'm concerned that she's getting dehydrated that will lead to a UTI. I've made a call in to the nurse this morning and will discuss whether Rebekah needs to be seen again today.

Darrin and I are also not feeling super great. We are both dealing with allergies: sneezing and sore throat. Last night I felt so weak as I went to bed. We didn't sleep really great last night either because Joshua was up some, I think due to gas. I can deal with my allergies, though. I just want my little girl to get better.

Update on Rebekah

Yesterday after talking with a nurse about Rebekah's symptoms - low-grade fever, sore throat and hoarseness, tummy pain, some malaise, a little runny nose and beginnings of a dry cough, possible dehydration, and loss of appetite - we determined to take Rebekah in to see the pediatrician. Rebekah's doctor was booked, so we saw another one in the office.

The first thing the nurse had us do was go down to the lab for a strep culture. As we approached the lab we saw Rebekah's pediatrician and I told her why Rebekah was there. It was nice seeing her even though she didn't get to examine Rebekah, but the other doctor we saw was very nice and handled Rebekah really well.

The first strep test came back negative. After the exam the doctor said that Rebekah's throat is red and does not look like strep, but the other symptoms she has are the same as strep, so he wouldn't have been surprised if it had come back positive. They are also running another strep test which takes 24-36 hours, but he believes it is probably a virus, and by the time the results for the second test come back Rebekah should be feeling better.

Rebekah's temperature has continued to stay low-grade. She is very low-key, laying around a lot. I am trying to keep her hydrated as well as to get her to eat a little although her appetite is not very great. Hopefully she will be well enough to return to preschool on Thursday. In the meantime, she is getting lots of rest.

The only nice thing about this is that Rebekah is soooooo well-behaved! She is such an angel! She has been especially good to Joshua and has not acted up one bit. I'm sure she doesn't even have the energy to bug her brother. I just hate to see her feel so bad, though.

Rebekah's Sick

This morning and early afternoon I noticed that Rebekah's body felt warm to the touch. Her head felt normal, and she was quite playful today, although a little lower key than usual, but nothing alarming. Later this afternoon Darrin noticed how warm she was and checked her temperature rectally. The results were well below normal. When I got home from running errands and grocery shopping I checked her temperature orally (a first for Rebekah). It is 101.2. Poor thing is all curled up in a fleece blanket watching a movie. You can tell she is not feeling well.