Sick Kiddos?

I took Izzy to the doctor yesterday. She has been running a high fever since Friday evening. She had the lowest one yesterday, 100.9, but I went ahead and took her just to be safe. Our appointment wasn't until 3:45pm so I had all three kids! On the way there, Tyler tells me that his throat hurts. I didn't think too much of it since he complains about things a lot. Well, while we were in the exam room waiting on Dr. Walley, I felt Tyler's head just because he was sitting next to me. He felt warm. So here I am debating....should I say anything? It could just be me...he may not be that warm....maybe he just feels warm b/c it is warm in the room.....

While we are sitting there and I'm debating what to do, Elijah tells me he has to go to the bathroom. When I opened the door, the nurse was coming out of another room, so I stopped her and asked if she could take his temp. She not so kindly told me to go up front and sign him in and she would take his temp and weight while I did so. So I've got one in my arms, one in the bathroom, and one with the perturbed nurse. Fun times!!

We make it back to the exam room to find Dr. Walley already looking at Tyler and telling me that his lymph nodes do feel swollen and his throat looks pretty red. AWESOME. He then moves on to check Elijah, just in case. This is one of the reasons I love him so much. He is such a great doctor, in case anyone is looking :) Lije checked out fine. Then comes Izzy's turn. She immediately starts clinging on to me and crying. She had a traumatic experience w/ her ear infections and we had to see another doctor who wasn't so tender w/ her ears! With much struggle and muscle, we finish the exam and he tells me that Izzy looks fine. He orders a throat swab on both the little ones.

Back to the waiting room. One other person is waiting. They get called back. Still waiting and Tyler tells me he has to go to the bathroom. So back to the bathroom we go again. When we get done, back to the waiting room. Not a good sign when all the employees are leaving. So after about 10 more minutes, we hear Dr. Walley call us back. Tyler has strep and Izzy must just be viral. Another reason I love Dr. Walley, he gives me 3 prescriptions! Anything to not have to come back in a few days with Elijah complaining about something or having fever.

By the time we leave the office, it's 5:30pm. If anyone reading this is familiar with Birmingham, you know that you don't want to be on the north side of Bham at 5:30pm and have to travel 65south! We made it home a little before 7:00pm. Nice. Ate Milo's. Got baths. Craig went and picked up prescriptions. Bedtime for Izzy and Tyler. Homework for Elijah. Medicine. Bedtime for Elijah. Everyone was asleep within 10 minutes! After all of this, I was ill to say the least. I was not nice to my wonderful husband who was willing to do whatever he needed to help get the children settled. Sorry Craig. I forgot to preface this story with the fact that I had worked, a lot, Thursday night, slept a couple of hours Friday, went shopping, bed late Friday night, family time Saturday, worked Saturday night, some sleep (interrupted w/ sick Izzy) Sunday, back to work Sunday night, home at midnight, up at 6am to get Elijah on the bus, Tyler up when I get back in the door, breakfast, Tyler to school, grocery store (w/Izzy), home, lunch, Izzy to bed for a nap, me on the couch for a 30 minute nap, up again, pick Tyler up from school, home 30 minutes, Elijah off the bus, drive to St. Vincent's for dr.'s appt....and then the story begins?!?!

I love my life!!!

The pictures tell all. I told Tyler to take a picture and then Izzy wanted her picture taken. So here we are at home, rainy day, sick (?) kiddos, and I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the day holds.

Tyler has the worst gas I have ever smelt from the antibiotics! YUCK!

So Random...

I don't really have much to blog about this morning. Not to say I don't have a lot going on (esp in my head) but I just don't know what to talk about, I guess. Izzy has been sick with a high fever, I've been working like a mad dog, the boys have been couped up in the house, Thanksgiving flew by, and let's just say Craig was excited about going back to work this morning! I was very thankful to get to visit with some family this weekend though. Mema and Julie came up from Pcola, Christy, Jeff, and the girls came down from KY, and Shelley, Scott, and Anna swung through on their way home from Gatlinburg. My parents had a full house! It seemed like a short visit due to my having to work most of the time they were here, but a good visit nontheless. I don't have any pictures. I think Julie was the only one who took any pictures too! So bad! I am missing so many memories :( That is one of the reasons I am doing this blog, just so I can have something to pass on to my kiddos when I can't remember the stories anymore. Craig would say that I am already to that point. Especially since I can't remember half of my childhood! Maybe I should be taking something to help my memory :)

So what do I have on my plate for this week? I was supposed to be working tonight, but was able to switch days with a co-worker, so now I will be working Thursday night. I try not to work Thursdays b/c Craig has his men's Bible study on Friday mornings and I am not home in time for him to leave so he will have to miss this week. I am so excited about not having anything scheduled on Tuesday! I can't believe it. I will have Izzy and Tyler home so maybe we can make some new memories. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are going to be busy though. I'm just gonna have to put on my running shoes.

Well, sorry for all the rambling. I just have so many things going on in my head right now. So I'm done. Maybe tomorrow will be a better (and more interesting) blog. :) Sorry for the randomness!

Tyler Handsome

Let me just start by saying I was almost done typing this and I hit some button that totally deleted everything I typed!!! very annoying!!

OK, so here it is a second time. Many of you know Jaime, my wonderful sister-in-law. She is a great friend and sister in Christ. She is dear to me. I cherish our friendship greatly. We have had many long talks about many things, mostly our husbands, and have laughed a great deal together. After all, we are both married to Hill's!

Jaime helps me out a lot with the kids. There are many days I don't have childcare after working all night or don't have someone to watch the kids when I have to leave for work. That is when all my wonderful family steps in. I don't know what I would do without all of you. I would definately be a lot more tired than I am right now. All of that said, my children have spent a lot of time with Jaime. I don't know when, where or why she decided to give Tyler this nickname. (well I might know why)...Tyler Handsome. He is pretty darn cute. He loves it. It is something only he and Jaime share. It is a little treasure I think he will always remember about Jaime.

So, I was shopping a few weeks ago at some consignment sales. First time I have ever bought a lot of clothes for my kids. Whoever came up with the idea of church consignment sales was awesome. I was mostly trying to shop for my oldest, Elijah. I couldn't help but drift over to all the pink clothes as well. Needless to say, Tyler wasn't racking up on anything! He was getting left out. I knew he had a lot of clothes in bins that were Elijah's so I wasn't really looking to get him anything. Well, one of my dear friends that was with me pointed out to me that Tyler was going to probably be upset that Elijah and Izzy were getting "new clothes" and he wasn't. So at the last little sale we went to I decided to try and find him some long-sleeved T-shirts that he could wear to school. And there it was. His shirt! Made just for him. And only $1!

He wore it for the first time yesterday to school. I told him we would have to take a picture of it and send it to Jaime. For some reason, he heard me say we were going to Jaime's house to let her take a picture. Huh??? Don't know how he came to that conclusion. And thus, God decided to build character in me. He does that a lot with Tyler. I should call him my character building tool. We struggle a lot with that. Tyler is my middle child. Enough said. Textbook middle child. Love him though!

The picture is to the right of this post. I hope you enjoy this one Jaime! Thanks for all you do for me. I love you dearly. God has blessed me with a great gift in your friendship.

I don't know how to title this one...

Wow, I can't believe I am writing again! Two days in a row :)

I really don't have much to say but this, I believe God is preparing my heart for something. I have no idea when or where He is leading me but I need some prayers. I am wrestling with Him about something (not even sure what) but I know it is God. Please pray that whatever He has planned for me in the days to come that I would be obedient and found faithful. Thank you!

Another Shot

So, I am going to try this blogging thing one more time. I really would like to have some memories written down for my children to read when we are older. So here we go...

I do have to mention the concert we were able to attend this past Sunday (Nov 14, 2010). A Night with the Chapmans. It was awesome. God was there. He has been with this family for years but we all were able to experience just a piece of the journey they have been traveling. They lost their youngest daughter in a family accident about a year and a half ago. They shared an incredible testimony of how they have struggled and triumphed through this. I hope I never forget that experience. What a worshipful and blessed time we had.

Not a whole lot to talk about at this point. I am staying busy with work and the children and very little sleep in between. I can't wait until I am able to have a normal job! Or at least normal hours :) We recently put our house on the market and I am trying to work a little extra to help pay for some "improvements" to the house. Let me just say how tired I am already of trying to keep my house straight! Those of you who have young children, especially boys, can understand. Our goal in selling the house is to pay down some debt, hopefully getting a bigger house (4 bedrooms!) with a smaller house payment, and then be able to do a little more giving! There is so much Craig and I want to do to help other but just don't have the funds to do it. We have been called to serve in this way and we are praying that God would be able to use what we are able to give at this point. Which leads me back to the Chapman's. They have a ministy called Show Hope. They built and are funding a hospital for special needs orphans in China. This organization is right up my alley, being a nurse and mother. I also have a special place in my heart for special needs Chinese children :) I am praying that Craig and I will be able to be a part of this ministry in some capacity but I would love to be a bigger part. Just waiting on my husband to get the call too :) Maybe when our kids are older:) Anyways, I have probably said too much and probably have confused a great number of people reading this. Sorry! Let me just leave you with a verse:

"Pure and lasting religion

in the sight of God our Father

means that we must care for orphans..."

James 1:27a

www.showhope.org