Hoof and Mouth?

This Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease mess is driving us all crazy... and although I know that Hoof and Mouth Disease is really no laughing matter, I couldn't help but think of these fun pictures that we took while in New Hampshire. My cousin and her husband live about a block away from all of these horses and cows... so we bundled up and Phoebe got a look, up close and personal. They were so friendly! The horses, however, were far more interested in us than the cows were. I don't think Phoebe knew what to think about these giant creatures... so far, the only creature she's interested in is Jake. And Lamby.

Okay, off to the showers.

Tiny Hands and Feet

I alluded to the fact that we've had a few illnesses going through the house here lately... and judging from other Mommy friends that I've got, we're not the only ones! Well, part of the fun of being a mommy is that you learn about all of these childhood illnesses that you either didn't get as a child or don't remember having.

When we were in New Hampshire, my cousin Danielle told me all about Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (which I thought was a bovine disease, but it's not... that's Hoof and Mouth). One of their little friends had just gotten it, and I'd never heard of it. Then, we go to nursery on Tuesday and find out that Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease has been in the crawler room...so I now know that this isn't some crazy northern disease that Danielle has made up.

And then these weird looking little ant bites show up on Phoebe's feet and ankles. After yelling at Michael for taking her to the grass and not warding off the little bugs, I realized the next day that they not only did not go away, but they got worse. And wait... is that one on her hand? Oh yes friends. On Thanksgiving, we were just thankful that her Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease was not any worse.

Other than looking yucky and all-but-eliminating her already small appetite, Phoebe seems to be doing fine. I think she'd much rather have the hand mess than this yucky nose/chest/throat cold she's got. I mean, she doesn't mind when I touch her feet, but get that bulb aspirator anywhere near her and she starts to cry.

And the best part of all this? Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is highly contagious, spread through direct contact with mucus (have I mentioned that we drool and drip constantly?) and feces (we do indeed change diapers at this house). Holiday fun for everyone! I'm starting to get a little paranoid...

In other news, the Christmas tree is up and decorated, the stockings are hung, and I am totally loving this rain.

Leave of Absence

I really didn't intend on taking Thanksgiving "time off" here on my blog, but I did. When the tubs of Christmas decorations are creating an obstacle course on the floor in my kitchen, a ladder's in the living room, and the baby has illness #3 in the month of November...well, let's just say you have to prioritize. I'm also working on a little scratchy throat/stuffy nose of my own, nursed lovingly by my off-from-work husband, OJ, a green blanket, and hot drinks.

One of these days, I'll blog again. I promise. :) For now, a picture or two:

Sufficient

It's 8:02 am, and Phoebe is still asleep.

She woke once during the night after a difficult "settling down" period... what a blessing after the night we had Sunday night! I don't know how tonight or tomorrow night will go, but we are thankful that the Lord provides us with "our daily bread" -- exactly what we need for today.

Today, I needed some hope...and the Lord gave me just that! Hope that she is back to a normal morning wake up time, hope that we can return to our sleeping through the night, hope that teething may be (for now) almost over, hope that we will be just fine. Praise the Lord!

Pavlov Anyone?

I just sat down to do my Bible study that I may be four or five days behind on...

Normally, I do the study in the morning, before little one awakes. Because that's the only guaranteed "quiet" I have. And I sit down with a handful of cheerios to stave off hunger for another hour or two.

What did I havetohave before I could start?

Cheerios.

I literally just felt my mouth water.

Big Girls

Adding a picture to this post would actually require that I find the camera from our travel extravaganza, so... it'll be words only until then.

Just before departing on our adventure to the great north (a blog post to come), Phoebe turned eight months old. EIGHT! Can you believe it? I cannot, surely, fathom a time when time has so quite literally flown. She's changing so fast, too! Here are some things that our little one is enjoying and doing:

• Eating all kinds of big girl foods: baby goldfish, cheerios, peas, carrots, "crunchies" (rice puffs), crackers, and whatever other treats Mommy and Daddy generously share (Daddy is far more generous than Mommy)
• We're also eating meat, sort of... she hates it all by itself, but will eat it if it's mixed with a fruit or veggie.
  
• Crawling extremely fast... and she just gets faster
• Pulling up in our crib and on low furniture, like her toy chest
• Dumping and picking through baskets -- she especially loves to carefully choose several "babies" to love on, or finding paper tucked away in a basket
• Loves to read more and more... she's starting to sit still for a full book, rather than just finding a way to put it in her mouth
• Tearing/pulling things apart (you should see her with this one stretchy "livestrong" type bracelet...)
• She absolutely loves tags of any kind... including zippers and Jake's tag
• She's beginning to "share" -- will often offer whatever it is she has in her mouth to Mommy, Daddy, Jake... what a generous little darling!
• Phoebe is beginning to use a cup, sort of. She can bring a bottle (without handles) and a cup (with handles) to her mouth, and will chew on the top or nipple, but will seldom suck. Auntie Danielle bought her a special cup when we were in New Hampshire that she was successful with, but we've only tried it once.
  
• We're teething. Interminably. We pray constantly that she will get through this. And that we will, too.
  
• Sleeping (related to teething) has not been good, and is still not good. We're looking at some sleep training again after Thanksgiving.
• Responds to her name, and "No"... most of the time. Will also raise her arms up to get out of her high chair, exersaucer, etc... we're still working on traditional signs, bye-bye, etc.
  
• Babbles blah-blah, la-la, and bah-bah... occasionally we'll hear the "p" sound, but she only whispers it. We hear the "m" sound when she cries, and Michael swears he's heard, "Oh Daddy, I love you so much," but I'm doubtful.
• Absolutely LOVES bathtime. We have graduated from the sink to an inflatable tub to the big girl tub all in about a month. Big tub is totally her favorite, and she would be content to splash for a full hour I think.
• She is very friendly, and loves to "flirt" with other babies and adults.
  

I'm realizing that I could never list all of the things that Phoebe does that delights us... we are continually blessed by our Little. God is so gracious to share this little one with us.

Pictures to come soon!

Frostbite

Well, we're in the middle of a family get together in New Hampshire... and man, are we having a blast. But it's so stinkin' cold! Us southerners are all bundled up in ten layers, while our cousins are running around without a jacket. We're swallowing our pride to stay warm, but we're definitely enjoying our time with family. Phoebe is also playing like a big girl with her cousin John, who is two, and sharing all of his toys like such a big boy.

And of course we're eating. Wow, are we eating. In case you didn't know, that's how we Italians roll.

Phoebe was, by the way, a champ on the flight up here... but we're about to watch Elf and do some more family type things. And probably eat some more! (HA!)

Coming soon: Phoebe's 8 Month Day celebration, frequent flier miles, and even more!

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Summer and winter and spring-time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!



So this morning, I wake up with this great old hymn in my head. Let me start by saying that last night was really not a good night. Phoebe had a hard time around 3:00, Jake had a hard time, so we all had a hard time. And then Phoebe wakes again at 5, inconsolable and starving. My alarm went off at 6. I'm throwing back the coffee like it's water this morning.

Now I'm not saying all of this to complain. I just wanted to set things up here. Anyway, in spite of all that frustration, I am reminded of something: God has answered a specific prayer for me. Last week at Bible study, I asked the girls to pray that Phoebe would sleep past six so that I could have time to do my Bible study in the morning, and actually start my morning off on the right foot. The time change had really caused a lot of frustration in that area, and I needed it so badly. And here I am, it's 7:20, and I'm able to blog, drink coffee, relax... all after spending some time in the Word and in prayer. Phoebe slept. Past six. Yes, she woke up for a feeding at 5; yes, I hope we eliminate that feeding again ASAP. But what a beautiful thing! That prayer, that specific prayer, was answered.

I've been feeling a bit "woe-is-me" lately about all of this. See, Phoebs is past the really sick part of being sick and is now in the irritable, "I don't feel good and I'm teething, so I'm going to make things hard" stage. She napped for a total of about 1 1/2 hours yesterday. (Her normal nap total is somewhere around 4-5 hours.) At the end of the day, I was just plain depleted. Michael even took us to Target and picked up pizza for dinner, and it did little to help my mood. But I think God wanted me to change my perspective, to peek in on his faithfulness.

Because this morning, and every morning, God is faithful. Whether I see it, whether I acknowledge it, whether I realize it... He is faithful. This morning, I'm thankful for the blessing of actually seeing it. His mercies are new every morning!

And even though my prayer of sleeping 12 hours, a "7 to 7" night, was not answered last night... I'm grateful that the Lord has been gracious enough to show me that he does indeed care for my prayers. She slept past seven! Praise the Lord!

By the way...

I'm making an effort to update Everyday Gourmet more frequently... starting with today! I'm no culinary genius, but I'm just trying to share with friends some easy "eats" we eat around here. I'd love to hear what you're cooking, too!

Also, Phoebs has a fever again. We are still praising the Lord for his goodness, in giving us a very restful night and a very happy sick-girl!

Praising

After staying up late (Michael) to give Motrin and setting alarms in the night to redose (Sarah) for her fever that peaked over 103, it appears we have a peaceful babe. We haven't heard anything from her since 2:15,and it's 7:35. (Yes, I've checked on her!)

It is amazing what a blessing it is to go to bed early and then get an extra hour of sleep... I'm feeling so much more refreshed! God is good, and he knows exactly what I need.

Today we'll be hopefully getting back into a bit of a routine... and cheering on our Tide, of course! We have a big adventure planned for next week (anyone have tips for flying with an 8 month old?) that I really should start preparing for. And of course, Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

Note: the picture is blurry, but occurred during yesterday's afternoon nap. For both of us. The infamous "Lamby" is blocking Phoebe's sweet mouth. She can't even nap with Mommy without her precious lamb.

You Give Me Fever

Let me just start off by saying that I feel awful. No, not sick. But really terrible that I got so frustrated about middle-of-the-night wakings. But, if this is a journal, I'm not doing it to please everybody else... so... I suppose a little honesty is okay now and again.

Shortly after blogging yesterday, I went on to clean the bathroom (it now sparkles, thank you) and take a shower. Immediately after showering, Phoebs woke up early from her nap. (Not unusual these past few days...) I gave her a few minutes in there to grunt and squirm, because often she'll go back to sleep. Except yesterday, she started wailing. We're talking red-faced, big-girl-tears, make-mommy-cry-too stuff. And when I picked her up, she was hot.

And the fever began.

At this point I realize that Phoebe is textbook teething. I mean, you name it, she's got the symptom. But gut told me that something else was going on, so I took her on in to see Dr. B. While Phoebe was distracted by her little lion, Dr. B proceeded to check everything... and all looked normal. No ear infection, sore throat evidence, etc. But they went ahead and took some blood (poor Phoebe liked this even less than getting a stick jammed in her throat) to check for infection.

Wonder of wonders, I'm not losing my mind... she's got some kind of icky virus. So bless her heart, she feels terrible and didn't sleep good again last night. At 4:30 we woke up burning up with fever again (101), took some Motrin and a bottle, and rocked back to sleep. I've been downing the coffee ever since.

Precious little angel just wants to doze, cuddle, and eat...


I don't blame her. I imagine we'll have lots of good couch time today... since neither of us slept last night. But since you read this far, I shall reward you with a picture of healthy Phoebe and some notes about her new tricks:

• Phoebs is now crawling. That's right, kids. Crawling. I decided it was official when she made her way from her bedroom to mine of her own accord. That's big girl stuff!
• She is also pulling up. Sort of. She has only done a pull-to-standing in her crib, but she'll pull to her knees on her toy chest and baskets in her room. WOW!
• It's 7:06 and she's asleep. Now, we were up at 5:30... but hey... it's the first time all week I can say that she's been asleep at 7:06! YAY! (I'm hoping the fever's gone and we're feeling better, too)

Have a blessed day today... we're still deciding if we should make the journey north to visit with Aunt Fave and Uncle Gus... we'll see!

Forlorn

Oh sleep, how do I miss thee? Let me count the ways...

Okay, I'm not going to count. But seriously. I have an eight month old. NOT an eight week old. She started sleeping through the night at 11 weeks! That means that for at least five months now, I've been used to lovely, blissful, uninterrupted sleep for most nights of the week. Why then, does she insist on waking every night at least once or twice now? WHY?

Last night, Phoebs, angel of my little heart, woke at 3:30. After delivering her paci (because let's face it, I'd rather be up for 2 minutes than 22), I returned to my own crib. Except she kept making noise. With the paci in her mouth. I dozed off and on until four, not really getting to sleep. At four, I went in to make sure she had the paci (she did). I then removed said paci and inserted three Hyland's Teething Tablets, which I'm pretty sure are just sugar pills but hey... it's placebo enough for me. I then reinserted the paci and returned to my room, trying to sleep unsuccessfully until 4:30. I considered going ahead and getting up, since by then I was wide awake.

That might've been a good idea, because at 6:10 when my alarm went off, I felt like I'd been hit by a mack truck. And I guess Phoebe felt like waking up then, too, because in spite of the darkening blanket to maybe get her to sleep longer, she was awake and ready to play. Friends, the author of the time change obviously had no children. We're almost a week into it, and we're still totally on "old time". If anyone has any good ideas, let me know. I'm ready to pull out my hair and go on a mommy strike.

And although I've cried wolf about teeth about six times already this year, I think it really is time. Which makes all of this even worse. And makes her morning nap shorter, which means I'd better get some more coffee and clean my bathroom PDQ.

Thank you, Mom, for bringing sanity to my life and order to my home this week. I love you!

Tricks and Treats

Wow... so I keep getting these great ideas for posts, and then never doing them. Why? Who knows! So I've decided I'm going to do a boring, "what have we been up to" post... and then I'll feel caught up and can blog again. It's just been a really vicious cycle!

We went to the beach for a week with my mom and dad, which was a wonderful break from reality. We also were able to celebrate my birthday (the big 2-4). Since the beach was my gift from the folks, we had fun opening dollar store "funsies" -- including a whoopie cushion. When we returned home, Michael had birthday elves bring in a beautiful end table, lamp, and throw pillows for my birthday. We also continued the celebrating with Michael's mom and dad with a wonderful dinner and another gorgeous lamp!

All last week was kind of a blur... I'm really not sure I can tell you what all I did? I do know that we spent a lot of last week trying to get back into a routine!

Then on the weekend, we had Phoebe baptized at our church. It was a beautiful, tender reminder of God's grace. We do unreservedly dedicate Phoebe Kate to God! We then had the grandparents over to our house for a delicious brunch, and Phoebe entertained all of us as she chowed down on cantaloupe bits. We all took some naps, and then prepared for the trunk or treat at church!

Phoebs and all of her friends had fun dressing up in costume, and the grown ups enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, and fellowship. Michael was a fabulous grill master, and the weather was absolutely perfect. We had such a good time with our precious LIFE group!

It's hard to believe that this week is already almost over... but it was punctuated by Halloween, and we sure did have some tricks and treats that day! Phoebe showed off some new tricks: she is now pulling up (only in her crib, so far), and greeted me after her nap by STANDING UP and smiling over the rail. (I do not yet have a picture of this!) She is also beginning to get closer to crawling... she is a speedy little inchworm, and can go about three "crawl steps" before flopping. We were also treated to surprise dinner with the Jordans, who we love! We had such a good time hanging out. Phoebe totally did not go trick or treating, because really... did we need more candy?

And now... well, Phoebs and I are going to run errands in a few... and then tonight we'll be taking pictures of Callahan! We'll also be headed to Saban Bowl tomorrow, so ROLL TIDE!