Mama said there'd be days like this

Mama said there'd be days like this. There'd be days like this, my mama said. We are now going on day 19.

I guess the old saying is true: "When it rains, it pours." Well, it's been pouring sickness throughout our house, and it's been rough. The more people you have in your family, the longer it takes for sickness to pass through and leave. Thank goodness we aren't the Duggars.

It started with me - laryngitis, sneezing, itchy eyes, and a cough. I really thought I had crazy allergies. And life doesn't stop for a sick mama most of the time, so I kept trucking along. Apparently sharing my germs with those I love the most.

Because a week later, Ella Beth had all of my symptoms. I guess it wasn't allergies after all. But she bounced back quicker than I did, and has felt fine for the last week or so.

But of course, Porter wanted to join the party and has now been stuffy and running a low-grade fever all week.

And then at 2:30 this morning, Landon started throwing up and had a fever of 102. He never could keep any Tylenol or Ibuprofen down, so when we went to the doctor at 9:30 his fever was up to 103.1. :(

Poor Scott is living on edge...but he's hoping that this will do the trick:

Me? I'm hoping that everyone feels well very soon. And that I can get a good night's rest!

Multitudes on Monday

1348. taking the kiddos to the fair and seeing their faces light up at all of the excitement

1349. squeals of delight as rides twisted and turned

1350. Landon thinking about me at preschool each day and bringing me home a surprise from the playground - I have quite the collection of acorns these days!

1351. making pumpkin muffins to deliver to Scott's grandmother in her new home

1352. our neighbor, Ms. Vanessa, who delivers fresh apple bread fresh from the oven to us on a crisp, cool evening

1353. watching Ella Beth ride up and down and round and round our cul-de-sac on her bike without training wheels

1354. the pride on my children's faces as they do something they have worked so hard for

1355. taking a day trip to visit my mom with the kiddos and Scott's mom (driving her van)

1356. seeing scarecrows dressed up in many different ways for a Halloween competition

1357. beautiful October skies

1358. coming home from our day trip to find that Scott had secretly taken my car, traded it in, and bought me a new mini-van

1359. crying tears of joy and love from Scott's huge surprise

1360. "magic doors" - as my kids call them on our new van

1361. hearing Ella Beth tell everyone we knew at church about our new van

1362. God's blessing and provision and how He answers prayers...not on our time schedule (e.g. 6 months ago), but in His perfect time and His perfect way

Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

The Outer Banks, part 2

There is a lot of history in the Outer Banks. We had a great time learning about the area and that the beach used to be 13 miles off what is now the coast. There was a deciduous forest lining the coast of northern North Carolina hundreds of years ago, and at late tide we were able to see what was left of thousands of tree stumps. Fascinating!!

But the most amazing part of the Outer Banks is that there are wild horses that live there. Their breed line goes back to when the Spanish settled in America. Some of the ships crashed into the trees that were hidden by the ocean, and many of the horses survived by swimming to shore. Landon's absolute favorite movie is Spirit, and since the Outer Banks protects the population of the wild horses, and we knew that we had to go on a tour to see them.

It was easily the highlight of our vacation, and Landon was mesmerized! We took a 3 hour tour in an open Hummer on the Outer Banks Preserve. People are allowed to build homes there (for quite the pretty penny!), but they are not allowed to intrude on the horses.

Our tour was insanely bumpy. There were many times when our guide said, "Hold on. This is going to be a roller coaster!" And he was right!! If I had had any inclination of how the ride was going to be I would never have taken Porter.

But, since we were clueless of just how "off road" we were going, he came along. And I am telling you that this tiny fella FELL ASLEEP! As we were literally bouncing out of our seats and squealing our heads off, Porter slept. (This picture was taken as we loaded up. I was too busy worrying about him being jostled to take a picture of him while we were on the tour!)

We saw some of the prettiest scenery on our tour. It's hard to imagine waking up to the sights of the ocean and beautiful horses just outside your windows each day, but there are some mighty lucky (i.e. rich) people in this world. (Side note: Tom Cruise vacations here regularly...in a house with 28 bedrooms, 3 kitchens, a bowling alley, and 5 pools. So that's the kind of "pretty penny" I'm talking about!)

Our guide said to put our hands up because it was about to feel like a roller coaster!

And it did!!

We were told how rare it is to see horses actually walking the beach, but as our tour was ending we spotted two horses taking a stroll. These pictures were taken at almost dark so there was no way to capture the beauty in a picture, but it was truly a majestic moment. God's creation is simply breathtaking at times.

We ended the night celebrating Scott's dad for his birthday. He had a pretty amazing birthday celebration if you ask me. One he's not likely to ever forget!

The Outer Banks, part 1

We had such a wonderful and memorable vacation this year! We were blessed to be able to go to the Outer Banks due to the generosity of some wonderful people that Scott worked for earlier in the year. We stayed in a gorgeous house directly on the beach. We had our own private pool, three stories of fun, a hammock, more bedrooms than we needed, bunk beds, a huge kitchen...it goes on and on! To say that we have been spoiled by this vacation would be an understatement!!

I have still not gone through all of my pictures (because there are close to 2000 of them and with three kiddos I just can't find the time), but I want to make sure I don't forget any of the fun details.

The first two days of our vacation were overcast - which Scott prefers. The last six days of our vacation were full of sunshine and hot temperatures - which I prefer (at the beach at least!).

Ella Beth jumped right into the ocean as if she never left it last year. She is such a brave girl, and she goes all in with just about everything.

Landon started asking about a month before our trip if there were going to be jellyfish at the beach. Poor fella. He remembered being stung last year. So, he was quite timid of the ocean for the first 1/2 of the week. He watched Ella Beth from the sidelines while he warmed up to the ocean.
 

 

If the "theme" of last year's trip was sand dollars and turtles, the "theme" of this year would easily be crabs. They were everywhere. The kiddos and their daddy got a kick out of them. Me? I just squealed as they ran past my toes!

 

Porter had his first "dip" in the ocean. Those sweet toes wiggled all around in the sand and water. :)

Our week started off fantastic and the fun continued all week long......

Multitudes on Monday {on Tuesday}

1335. warm tea with honey for a very sore and hoarse throat

1336. Porter sleeping without being swaddled!!!

1337. a day full of fun shopping with my mom for the kiddos

1338. cool weather at the beginning of October

1339. my dogwood tree always being the first to change color each fall, a vibrant burgandy

1340. nights when I am able to go to bed as soon as the kiddos go to bed and get a full 8 hours in

1341. Porter's sweet babble-talk

1342. Porter's sweet smile that makes it easier to get out of bed at 7 a.m. when I am sick and could sleep all day

1343. doing a glider experiment with the kiddos outside while we are learning about air pressure

1344. Christmas shopping in October - it makes me feel so ahead of the game!

1345. fall and winter clothes

1346. starting our next math level with good attitudes (Ella Beth and Mama) :)

1347. talking to Ella Beth and Landon about unconditional love - mine for them, and the Lord's for us all

Psalm 118:21, "I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation."

6 months

I wanted to make sure that I document Porter's 6 month progress. No big photo shoot this month, but I still need to remember all of his stats. You know, for when I get time to write it all out in his baby book.

--
Porter weighs 10 1/2 pounds. People still comment on how tiny he is. Tonight at Landon's baseball game, we heard it over and over and over. But, he's so big compared to where he started out that to me he seems like such a big boy.

He is still in 0-3 month clothes. I brought out a couple of 3-6 month outfits because I thought he would be able to wear them. Not so much. 

Porter is still nursing ever 3-4 hours during the day, and he wakes up at 5 a.m. for a feeding. He does go back down until 7:30 thank goodness! I have tried over and over to drop that 5 a.m. feeding, but he's a stubborn little fella. And every morning I think to myself, "He's 6 months old and he weighs 10 pounds. He needs to eat." It has become my 5 a.m. pep-talk. :)

He started eating solids about 3 weeks ago. While it started out awesome, it has turned rough. The fella still loves to eat, but his tummy isn't happy. I have only been giving him 1 teaspoon of oatmeal cereal with his servings of fruits, but it seems to be too much on his little system. (I was in the hospital as an infant for an allergic reaction to cereal due to severe dehydration, and I'm worried that Porter may be following the same path.) He has had two bouts of severe constipation, so we are now strictly on fruits and vegetables; no cereal. Praying that his tummy feels better soon and will learn to digest everything.

He moves everywhere and we have to keep an eye on him! Just the other day, I put him on his play mat while I took the clothes out of the washer. I peeked around the corner after about 2 minutes to check on him and he was 3 feet away from his play mat in the middle of the hardwood floors. Stinker!! I can only imagine what it's going to be like once he's crawling and truly mobile. 

I think he is starting the teething process. He has always liked having his hands in his mouth, but in the last couple of weeks he has really started gnawing (I hate that word, by the way) on his hands, toys, my shoulder. If I remember correctly, the whole teething process can take quite a while. So who knows when his pearly whites will come in.

Porter absolutely LOVES Ella Beth! I am blessed beyond measure by how helpful Ella Beth is, and I make sure to tell her as much each day. Whether it's getting Porter a toy, me a burp cloth, occupying him while I cook supper or get a shower, or just playing with him for fun...Ella Beth is a huge help to me and great entertainment for Porter. All babies should come with a sweet big sister. :)

Porter loves Landon, too, of course. But Landon doesn't have quite the "mama heart" that Ella Beth does. But Landon is gentle around Porter and gets his fair share of smiles out of him. :)

Porter loves attention, and there's no lack of it around here!

Multitudes on Monday

1322. fun Halloween and fall decorations made by Scott and me

1323. Ella Beth pulling out "Make a craft with Mommy" from the I'm Bored Jar

1324. singing a beautiful new song at church this morning

1325. listening to preschoolers sing praise songs from the nursing room at church

1326. white flesh peaches for peach cobbler

1327. great neighbors, who are also friends, who call when they need eggs, flour, butter, a book

1328. great neighbors that I can call when I need something, too

1329. a healthy theological discussion with Jehovah's Witnesses that I have developed a relationship with

1330. Landon cleaning up outside all by himself and without complaint after Ella Beth hurt herself

1331. cooling fall rains after a surprisingly hot week

1332. organizing the pantry {again} after a big grocery trip

1333. Landon winning the Game Ball after two big hits at his baseball game (the first hit from the tee went all the way to the outfield, and the second hit was from the pitcher and it was a fly ball!!)

1334. 4 & 5 year old boys being more excited about the post game snack than about winning :)

Philippians 1:3, "I thank my God every time I remember you."