Happy Thanksgiving!

(I thought I had this post scheduled to post early yesterday morning, but something didn't go right and it didn't post so I'm a day late. Oh well, I knew you would want to see it even if it is after Thanksgiving!!)

Before the kids were sick and the weather turned cold and yucky we took some fall pictures. This is my favorite!!! How thankful we are for these two kiddos. And they are definitely thankful for each other. I am so glad they have a hand just their size to hold as they walk through life together. Looking back over the last year there are so many things to be thankful for. I am so thankful the Lord has blessed us with many good memories and has held our hands through some not so fun ones. Thanksgiving gets so overlooked in our culture; we seem to go right from Halloween to Christmas which really irritates me. As much as I love Christmas with all the fun music and lights I think we need to remember to take the time to stop and offer our thanks to the Lord for all his blessings that we take for granted. So this is my praise this Thanksgiving.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

And since I know you would all really rather look at more cute pictures of Addyson and Braden than listen to me ramble, here you go!!! Happy, happy thanksgiving to you all!!!



Extra Hour

How did you spend your extra hour on Saturday night while the clocks turned back? We spent ours in the hospital. I hope you had something more fun like an extra hour of sleep in your comfy bed! But let me back up and give you a little more info about our fun times.

Last week Tuesday Braden had a stomach bug but by evening was feeling much better. Wednesday night soon after we put the kids to bed Addyson woke up puking. A couple hours later Braden did too. About 1:30 a.m I joined in the fun and Ryan couldn't be left out so he took his place at the toilet around 3 a.m. And things started coming out both ends for all of us. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Puke, wipe, flush, wash laundry, wipe, change diapers, sheets, I'm sure you've all had your turn at this and get the idea. I have to say that Braden did pretty good at sticking his head in the bucket and over the toilet - impressive! Addyson pushed away with all her might. And the fun continued all night. By the time the sun came up I was starting to feel better; just completely exhausted. We managed to get the kids in to see the pediatrician - we all looked completely horrible. Braden got IV's in the office and we went home. Nasty virus that's going around. Addyson seemed to be perking up and was drinking some. We pushed pedialyte as much as possible at home and Ryan continued to feel gross. Somehow we survived the day and all went to bed. We were so, so tired. When we woke up in the morning Addyson looked horrible, was shaking and obviously dehydrated and Braden was pretty lethargic too. So back to the pediatrician. Decided to admit Addyson to the hospital for IV's and we asked what it would take to put Braden there too. Not much they replied. So IV's in and off to the hospital. We spent from Friday morning to Sunday about suppertime at Newton Med Center. The puking stopped but still having yucky poops even now. So we got lots of together time!! 20 months olds on IV's and stuck in a tiny hospital room unable to eat, hating to drink, terrified of anyone who walked through the door, unable to get down on the floor and play, scared to sleep. We survived - definitely not on our own strength.

Checkup yesterday at the pediatrician went well and got their IV sites out. We are all much more perky today. Kids seem to be drinking well and diapers are looking better little by little. Being sick is no fun at all, especially all 4 of us at the same time. Boy are we glad to be feeling better.