A long weekend

This has been a very long and difficult weekend but I think we're finally out of the woods now. Friday night, when Brian and I went to bed, I told Brian to listen to Will. We both thought it was funny because he was snoring - and he never snores! However, it wasn't so funny when, at about 1:00 am, I woke up because of a very strange noise. I really thought it was Simon quietly barking. Turns out that it was actually Will barking. He had started coughing and all of his coughs were sounding like a seal barking. I called the nurse line through our pediatricians office and, sure enough, it was croup. He was basically OK Saturday during the day, although we kept having to take him into the bathroom and turn the shower on as hot as it could go to get a lot of steam in the room to loosen up some of his coughs. But, Saturday night and into Sunday morning, he started wheezing. So, we took him to the pediatrician's office as soon as they opened that morning and were almost sent directly on the ER. Luckily, the pediatrician tried a breathing treatment first and it seemed to calm his breathing enough that she thought with some steroid medicine, he would be OK, although she warned us that if he started wheezing again, we'd have to take him straight on to the ER. Luckily, and with a lot of people praying, he managed to make it through the night and, about 1 am this morning, his breathing actually starting sounding normal. His coughs are still a little "barky" but at least he's breathing OK and should be back to normal again within the next few days. But for those of you who were so diligently praying for us, thank you so much! We really do appreciate it. We really dreaded the thought of going to visit the ER in the middle of the night so I was so relieved to start hearing normal breath sounds coming out of him in the middle of the night. But I know it was your prayers that kept us out of that place!

Out of the mouths of babes...

I love watching my children learn new things. And to hear the things that come out of their mouths can make your heart melt, your eyes water, and your smile grow. Well, both of my children have learned how to express themselves in new ways. Ann Catherine has recently begun praying her own thoughtful prayers to God. In the past, she has always said one or two of the traditional children's prayers that we've taught her. She still says those at meal times. However, I recently found a daily devotional book my family read together at the dining room table every night when I was a child. I thought it was time to start that tradition in my own family and so, lately, we've tried to read through the devotional book every night. However, every time I say we need to pray after reading it, Ann Catherine will announce that she wants to pray. The first time she did that, I was expecting her normal, standard prayer. This time, however, she started to pray her own prayer - and it was beautiful. I don't remember exactly what she said but I do know that her prayer was filled with thanks for her family and asking God to bless the people she knew had needs. How much sweeter can she get than that? And, of course, I teared up. And, two nights ago, I teared up again - this time because of my laughter. Will has been humming his favorite songs for a couple months now. Well, two nights ago, he started singing his new favorite song. I heard him say "Ashes, ashes, [mumble, mumble] fall down!!" So, we started singing it together and then he grabbed my hand. It took me a second to realize what he was doing but I suddenly realized that he wanted to sing it while we went around in a circle holding hands. We did it and he promptly threw himself to the floor at the "fall down!!" part. The next thing I knew, Ann Catherine and Daddy had joined us. I have never seen Will grin so hard as he did when we all four joined hands, sang as we danced around a circle holding hands and sat down on the floor at the end. And, of course, I had teared up once again - this time from the laughter and joy of watching my family play together.

Time for a Puppet Show!

It amazes me how creative children can become when they discover and begin to use their imagination. Now that Ann Catherine is reading, her imagination is growing by leaps and bounds. Of course, this means her fears are becoming more developed (which is why she hates to go down the dark hallway into her bedroom at night without one of us with her - I remember doing that myself!). However, she's also becoming more playful. Well, this weekend she allowed her imagination to take her to a new world - the puppet show. This picture is from her first puppet show. She pulled out the sofa pillows, pulled Will's little playhouse down the hall, put a mat over the playhouse and pulled out her only "puppet" - one of those little hand clothes that you use for baths but are in the shape of an animal to keep the child entertained during bathtime. If I remember correctly, the show dealt with this animal who saw a whale and they decided to eat some food. It was very cute. And luckily her brother didn't decide to destroy her little "stage" until AFTER the show!

No More Helmet

Will got his helmet off this past Wednesday (7/11/07). Now tell me is he not the most handsome thing you have ever seen.

We're trying out the blogging world!

Since our family is starting to spread out and our opportunities to see one another are starting to get fewer and farther between, Brian and I thought we'd create a blog to give people a little glimpse of our lives and what our family is up to. More than anything, I knew people would want to know what was going on with the kids! Feel free to keep checking back for updates. Since I love the computer and forums like this, I'm sure we'll be updating it frequently!