We are getting better. Mostly. Our colds took the opportunity of weakened immune systems from the stomach flu to make a huge resurgence, but we're mostly better by now and (finally) sleeping some again. Some sleep is better than none, though not as good as lots. read more »
Most of what we did this week was be sick. Really sick. All of us. And it wasn't just the stomach flu, but also colds on top of that.
Paela skipped her class on Monday because of her nasty cold and then by Wednesday night, things got really bad. I had to drive Paela to the emergency room at the Children's hospital Thursday night carrying a bucket in my hand for both of us. She passed out and then caught a second wind LATE into the night at the hospital, around the time they kicked us out.
This wasn't a 24 hour bug either. Nope. Not even close. I'm still on a diet of crackers. Only crackers. But everyone else is doing better, somewhat. We all missed work and school and church and could barely leave the house. It is important to keep our vision focused on time beyond these moments, because they will be just a brief painful experience to be remembered. But perhaps not treasured. read more »
New York city this week was fun, though exhausting all around. Tons of walking (and carrying heavy kids) for me, eight interviews in three days for Wayne, and a very busy city full of stimuli for all the senses for the girls. I'm glad we went, and it is good to be home today.
Monday and Tuesday were full of trip preparations and getting the house in order. Wayne also took down one of his art shows. Aderyn took the chance to decide to become a one nap kid. A rough transition all around, but frankly it meant we got to do more things in NYC, so not bad timing. Aderyn is also done with bottles. Another transition, though not so rough because she eats tons of food all day long. read more »
Snow, snow, snow. In order to prepare for the additional snow, I had to borrow a electrical mini-snow blower and move the 4 foot tall mountains of snow a couple of feet closer to the center of the lawn. After about 5 hours of this, I decided that I would end up with a psychological disorder due to the stress. We are running out of room and places to put the snow. Our roof might cave in. The drainage pipes are full and when this snow melts it will cause a second disaster. [I am reassured that the locals are talking about how much snow it is too. At least we're not out-of-town wimps! -bec] read more »
We all had colds this week. Except for Paela. I'm glad one of us could escape those little germs! I stayed home to work on Tuesday in part because of the on-coming cold and in part because of the on-coming snow. But with deadlines at work, I couldn't afford to just rest. We've had three demos of our application in the last week. And that translates to lots of things to finish beforehand, and lots of new things to work on after. read more »
It snowed. And snowed. While I may have experienced more snow than this in my life, I don't remember it. It was much more than predicted and the commonwealth of Massachusetts was put under a state of emergency. Somewhere between 18 - 24 inches fell, making the snow drifts close to three feet tall. The snow plows built a wall blocking us in our driveway, which took us most of the day to dig out of. I had hoped that Paela would enjoy the snow -- because she did in Michigan -- but it proved to be too overwhelming for her. read more »
Let's keep this short.
We got home from Michigan on Monday. Nice quick travel, though Aderyn didn't like having to nap in our arms on one leg. Paela is a super traveling buddy. Everyone (especially Aderyn) was thankful to see all the usual toys and Star cats and things. Home was all in order (Thanks to the Jones family!). We got home early in the evening, but getting used to our own beds again was a trick. Aderyn was crying off and on all night. Paela got moved to the couch, waking a couple of times herself. Thankfully sleep has been looking up every night since.
I ordered new glasses three and a half weeks ago. They were not in on Tuesday as expected. They arrived Saturday, but we had plans so I wasn't able to get them. Maybe tomorrow.
Wayne set up a show at Axiom Art. It took a few emails and several trips, and one more is in order before the reception on Friday, but things are mostly in place. read more »
The girls enjoyed Christmas at their grandparent's house, but this might be the last Christmas we travel. We left Boston before a major blizzard hit, dumping close to two feet of snow. Lucky for us, we were safe before that hit. The night we left, a miracle happened: Aderyn slept through the night for the first time in her life. Of course, we had to leave at 4am, so we messed that up. [hopefully she didn't take that message the wrong way! -reb] read more »
It was the Christmas lesson for my Primary class this week. Next week we don't have Primary -- just Sacrament meeting. And so I talked to my class about Santa. I mean, Christmas. They all turned seven this year, so I actually was surprised that they believe. Especially since I already knew they don't believe in the big old bunny. I guess just because learned about all the big magical stories at once (my brothers, cough, cough), doesn't mean everyone did.
I enjoyed hearing about their traditions. One family exchanges gifts, and Santa is just in charge of the stockings (and a small gift in there). Another does one big Santa gift to the family. Another draws a name of a family member and does secret things for them all month long. Another opens presents today because they are traveling for the holidays.
So why are we bringing all of ours with us to Michigan? read more »
St. Nick's day was nice. We've been trying to do a better job at creating new family traditions, so we are following our advent calendar and doing crafts with the kids and making cookies as well.
Most things ran a little too late for our girls this week. For example, we showed up to the ward Christmas party in our pajamas and left shortly after it started.
All our packages are in the mail. All should arrive before the big day. Keep an eye open for them.
We've started sleep training on Aderyn. So you know what that means... it's time to end this email and get some much needed rest.
