Monday, January 26, 2009

Wow what a week?

As if we had not had enough sickness in our house this past year, we found ourselves battling, yet again, with another a round! We all started coughing and had lots of congestion the weekend before. It was one of those moments that you think, "oh, yea, here we go!" Mary Mac had fallen out of her bed the other night (which is a first since putting her in a big girl bed when she was 2) in what appeared to be a restless night. I was terrified that she had possibly hit her head on the bedside table because she was kind of out of it and shaking. I wasn't sure if it all just scared her and I was being paranoid or if she really did hurt something so I decided to sleep with her so that I could keep an eye on her. Of course I did not sleep much after that - between her coughing all in my face (literally) as she tossed and turned all night! By the way, she did not hit her head. I found a huge bruise and mark on her shoulder several days later! So, of course, I started coughing and getting congestion a couple days after this event. I had to take Anna to the doctor on Monday to have her ears rechecked from the previous illness and at this point Anna was great! Well, that lasted about 12 hours and on Tuesday she started the same cycle. Keep in mind that up to this point, I have not slept since the Thursday night before when Mary Mac fell off the bed and then she and I were both up and down the other nights coughing and having to blow or noses. Sam leaves Tuesday to go out of town for a show in Nashville and I was feeling lousy! Our lousiness continued (with all 3 of us) until Wednesday night when Anna began coughing ALL NIGHT and then my ears started killing me. I could feel the pressure in my ears and I could also feel one of my eardrum's bulging. I woke up the next morning with crud coming out of my ears.

That's when I said, "I've had it . . . We're all going to the doctor TODAY!" So, after several hours in doctors' offices and many prescriptions later, Mary Mac and I both had ear infections in both ear and sinus infections and Anna was diagnosed with bronchiolitis. So, between antibiotics, ear drops, decongestants, breathing treatments, we were all SO glad to have our Daddy back at home yesterday. Or, should I say, I was the one that was most happy! It was a tough week with Sam being gone and us being sick, but we made it! We made it through another round! I pray that we can all stay healthy and well for a long time now!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Random pics

Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks. They are all of Anna due to the fact that Mary Mac has announced to us that she no longer likes to take pictures. I guess we will have to sneak up on her to get one!
Anna decked out in her camo - the camo does not "fit" her, but the frilly lace does!

Scarf Dancing

Watching Care Bears with Papa on Mommy's iPhone

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Pennies From Heaven

Has anyone ever heard the term "pennies from heaven?" Well I had never heard it called that until my grandmother passed away on Christmas and several weird (and I say that in a good way) things happened and my grandfather told me about this phrase. Basically, it means that when our loved ones are watching over us from heaven that they send us little messages so that we know they are there - such as finding a penny in our path! These are just a few "pennies from heaven" that we have had the privilege of experiencing in these past weeks.

1)My parents have a Christmas cactus at their house that they've had for several years. These are supposed to bloom around Christmas, but for some reason, theirs had never bloomed - EVER and they had no idea what color it was! That is, until this year. The day before my grandmother passed away, it bloomed!!! And, not that this was enough, but the color of the blooms were the same exact color of the sweater that she had picked out to be buried in!!!!! Who knew?! Also, the sweater she picked out had a jeweled bow on it that was very festive looking. It was like she knew that she was going to be with Our Saviour on his birthday!

2)Before she got really sick, my grandmother had ordered Christmas snowglobes for the great grandkids for Christmas. Grandaddy gave them to me to give the girls, but I kept forgetting to get them out of my car. Finally, while cleaning out my car, I found them and put them in the house, still in the box. The box was just a gold box with no pictures, words, etc. As soon as I cleaned my car out, we had to run some errands, I loaded the girls up and off we went! Well, out of the blue, Mary Mac says, "Mom, do you know what would be perfect for my playroom?" Since it was just a few days after Christmas and new toys and all of the decorations were put away, I was not expecting her answer. She said simply and matter-of-factly,

"A snow-glo!"
me: "What? You mean a snow-globe?"
MMC: "Yes, ma'am, that's what I meant. You know, the round things that have white stuff blowing around inside?"
me: "Yes, I know what you're talking about." I then went on to tell her about what Mamaw had bought for her and Grandaddy wanted her to have it, blah, blah, blah
MMC: "I know, she told me!"

Well you can only imagine what or how I felt by this statement being that we had only buried her the day before. Not to mention, I have no idea how she even knew what a snow globe was. We don't have any of them in our house, not even as Christmas decorations. When we got home later that afternoon, I opened the box and gave it to her. With her sweet innocent little voice, she said, "That's perfect and beautiful and just what I imaginated (that's how she says imagined)! Can I put it on my shelf in my playroom so that when I miss Mamaw I can look at it and remember her?" Oh, can we just say that the tears were FLOWING by this point!!!! It just reaffirms to me that our loved ones are watching us and wanting us to know that they are ok and definitely in a better place! Also, does anyone else think that maybe as adults our hearts are so hardened that we ignore these things until a child makes you stop and think, well, maybe?

A Whole Lotta Nothing

Not a whole lot has been going on around here these days. It has been so nice to have a little (and I mean, little) down time. I have been crazy busy though trying to play catch up at work and at my house, but we have not had any plans on the schedule the past week other than the usual.

A funny story about Mary Mac: every night as she is getting in her bed, she always asks for us (whoever is doing bed-duty) to tell her a secret. I have no idea where or why this started, but never fail, she asks EVERY night! So, the other night as Sam was putting her to bed, he was at a total loss of what to tell her, so he tells her that we were going to get my grandmother's (the one that just passed away) jewelry box and that she was going to be able to pick out something for herself to keep for when she was older. I had no idea he had told her about this and was really not planning on saying anything to her about it until we actually did it (you moms/dads know about that anticipation thing with kids). The next morning after she got out of her bed, this was our conversation:

MMC: "Mom, when are going to have our treasure hunt?"
me: Ok, I think, hummm, treasure hunt? "Well, I don't know! What treasure hunt are talking about?"
MMC: "You know, the treasure hunt with Gran?"
me: "Oh, well, did Gran tell you she was going let you have a treasure hunt at her house?"
MMC: looking so confused (as was I), "You know, Mom!"

At this point in the conversation, I just happen to glance Sam's way and see this look on his face that means "Oops!" I say to Sam, "What is she talking about?" Sam then finally confesses that he may have mentioned to her about going through the jewelry last night as her "secret". OOOHHHHHH, I finally get what she's asking about - the mind of a 4 year old makes me laugh! Her little brain had processed all that information about picking out a piece my grandmother's jewelry as going on a treasure hunt! So cute!

Needless to say, my mom and I finally had a chance to go through her jewelry and I picked out a few pieces that I wanted to keep for myself and the girls. We also found a drawer full of silk scarves. My mom was not sure what we were going to do with the scarves when I immediately thought --- SCARF DANCING---- The girls love to scarf dance at ballet, so why not put those scarves in the dress up box so that they can scarf dance anytime????? They found them last night and had a ball running around with them and dancing. I told Sam that I bet my grandmother was smiling down at them dancing, and laughing saying, "why didn't I give them those scarves a long time ago!??" These are just couple of ways that I have found comfort in remembering her and we will be able to enjoy for years to come!

Friday, January 02, 2009

Christmas Pictures

Well I guess in the midst of all the craziness we did get to take a few pictures during Christmas. I did take a video of the girls coming down to see what Santa brought them and will try and post it later.
Pop and his girls at my aunt and uncle's house
(Anna was asleep and this is one of the many nights of fever for Mary Mac)
Our Family On Christmas EveAnna playing in her "house"Mary Mac guarding the door of their new houseAnna just "had" to try on her new Dora big girl panties. No, she's not potty trained yet, but very interested - so why not buy panties? Every girls loves great panties don't we?Peek-a-boo! A rare moment of them playing so sweet and together in their new learning tower that Gran and Pop gave them for "helping" mommy in the kitchen.

Happy New Year to all of you bloggers out there! I really cannot believe it is 2009! Wow, it feels like just yesterday we rang in the New Year in NYC in 2000! And now, here we are just on the threshold of another decade gone by!