Another Week

"Christmas - it's all about The Gift"

Holding my newest child, Jacob. He is so precious. I love how his little head fits right into my hand. I love his little ears perfectly formed. I love how his little feet caress my arm when I hold him. Amazing. Beautiful.
Saturday was Noah's First Reconciliation. I had gone to confession at my Bible Study, so Tom took the boys. Fr. Steve told Tom that Noah did very well and nailed the Act of Contrition prayer. I'm impressed. I still read from a card or let the priest say it when I go. Noah has inspired me to learn the prayer.
On Sunday, we took our children's picture for our Christmas card and we got our Christmas tree decorated. It is filled with Tom's Trains, Brandon's Tonka's, Ethan's Snoopys, Noah's Arks, and our daughters' Barbies. Somewhere there is a shopping bag with a little Pooh Bear for Jacob's first Christmas. Hopefully I find it before Christmas Day. After we were done decorating the tree on Sunday, we did our Advent candles. Tom and our children sat at the table (Brandon laid on the floor next to them.) Tom lit the 3 candles. I stood and read a story from the Bible. For every day of Advent, there was a little part of the story of Jesus. After each reading everyone was to respond Come Lord Jesus Come - and they did. It was a very special family moment. I was so proud of our children. They listened and participated very nicely. We treated everyone to ice cream before going to bed.
Monday, Jacob cried every time I put him down. By Tuesday, I was worried. He has had a cough for awhile, but acted fine. Brandon stayed home because his throat hurt, so I left the girls with him and took Jacob to the pediatrician. When I got there, Jacob was smiling and cooing and just happy as can be. Little stinker. Everything looked and sounded fine - which I am happy thankful for. Peace of mind is worth the co-pay.
Last night Sarah woke me up around 3:00am. She was whining her sister Leah's name - but then she coughed and it was that ugly barking noise. Croup. I jumped out of bed and Sarah and I spent the next hour in the bathroom. I ran the hot water - it seemed to take forever to get the steam to fill the room. She was breathing fine, but kept coughing that horrible sound. I've been through this many times before, so I tried to stay calm. I am a huge believer in the power of prayer. I decided to pray the rosary - using my 10 fingers. It kept me calm and let me focus on Sarah's breathing. After I was done, we were able to comfortably leave the bathroom and go to me and Tom's bed. I took my holy water out of Jacob's cradle and blessed Sarah with it. She smiled at me and tightly hugged my arm. Good mommy.
Today, Sarah is still coughing, but acting ok. She did give me a little scare. After my "school crew" left, I noticed Leah had left her Flintstone vitamin next to her juice cup. I went into the next room and was soon followed by Sarah. She had Leah's cup in her hand. I immediately thought "Uh Oh!" I asked Sarah if she had eaten Leah's vitamin. She smiled and nodded her head. She is 2 and only supposed to have 1/2 a vitamin. Now she had had 1 & 1/2. I decided to Google it to see if I should panic. Let me just say - Never look up anything medical on the internet. Everything that came up was scary. I called my pediatrician's office and left a message. The nurse called me and we calculated Sarah's weight and the amount of Iron she took. She was well within the "safe" zone. Thank goodness. Later, when Leah's bus was coming, I went to get my boots on and found a wet Flintstone vitamin on the floor. Sarah had put it in her mouth, but hadn't eaten it. I showed it to Sarah, and again she just smiled. I think her first smile when I asked her about the vitamin wasn't to "soften me up" but was her saying " This could be fun. How crazy can I make mommy?"
Well, the girls went upstairs to play dress-up and they accidentally closed the gate. They are now trapped upstairs and yelling for me - which has woken up little Jakey. Guess I should go let them out and then I will snuggle with Jacob. Did I mention how much I love how my babies smell? So sweet! Maybe my girlies would like to take a nap while I rest with Jacob and get a little Jacob Aromatherapy :o) Ok, that sounds a little weird, but just snuggling with him and taking in his scent is very relaxing to me. It's that special bond between mommy and baby.