sick kids/getting ready for christmas

I had to leave work early on Thursday because Julian was illin it at the baby sitter's house. I got there and he ran to my arms. He looked horribly flushed. The rest of the night he layed on the couch, lethargic, didn't play with toys, slept on and off, and had a fever, but he wouldn't let me get anywhere near him with the thermometer. I tried to take his temp when he was asleep and it woke him up. On Friday morning when he woke up he seemed mostly back to normal, but he really didn't eat much of anything until sunday. I wonder if the puking on wednesday had anything to do with the fever or if they were totally unrelated incidents.

Friday Lucy started becoming unconsolible. She would just burst out crying out of nowhere for no apparent reason. She did get her first two teeth poking through her gums this week so we didn't know if that was the cause or if the fact that she hadn't had a good poop for a couple days meant she was constipated. With Julian several times we thought he was constipated because he hadn't pooped for a couple days, but then BAM! It would come flowing like a chocolate river again. We decided to monitor her for a little while before we took action, so hopefully we could determine what the cause of the crying was for the sweet little chick. Well that went on until late Saturday when some panic ensued mostly on my part and I ended up going to two different stores to find infant suppositories. That remedy didn't end up doing anything and she went to bed exhausted and hurting on saturday night. Sunday morning we gave her a laxative and some apple juice with her breakfast. Nicole stayed home from church because we didn't know what the laxative was going to do. The thing that finally got things moving was a warm bath. By the end of the day on Sunday she had pooped 4 times and was back to normal. Who knew poop could be such a hassle?
So on sunday I took to Julian to church by myself and he had a blast in nursery as usual. After church the kids took a good nap and Nicole and I worked on Christmas presents. We're becoming pros. We have a lot left to do in the next week. It's funny because we're not even doing anything for each other for christmas. The resources are just too tapped out. We aren't getting anything for the kids either, just giving them stuff we've already bought and had in the closet. It's going to be kind of like a hard candy christmas as dolly parton would say. The important thing is that we'll be spending a lot of time together and that's really what christmas is supposed to be about anyway.
So this week we try to wrap up our christmas preparations and then on Friday morning we'll journey to Elko. It's still up in the air on whether or not we'll come back on christmas day in time to see Nicole's family. It's supposed to be my family's year, but I don't want to be insensitive to her feelings either so we may end up coming home early. We'll see what happens.
Last night right when we were getting ready to leave for Smiths' the doorbell rang. Our first instinct every time the bell rings is the say, "who the heck is ringing our doorbell!?" Well, I opened the door and could not have been more surprised or pleased. It was Jason and Jess Middaugh delivering a christmas goody plate to us. They came in and visited for a second and then we went out to their car and saw their kids. They have 3 now, 2 of which we'd never even seen. It was so good to see them and their cute kids. Kylee talked our ears off as if we'd been seeing her every week, when we've actually not seen her for over two years. She is so cute! So, we resolved that we'll see them for new years and let the kids play.
It snowed about 6 inches yesterday throughout the day. I shoveled 3 times. Then it snowed another half inch or so during the night, which I didn't shovel this morning before work, which should make for a nice slick ice sheet by the time we get home. The high today is 28. It's 16 now. Because our house faces north and shades the driveway from the southern winter sun we never get any meltage unless it gets really warm. I don't mind the snow and I don't mind shoveling, but this morning's commute was nasty. Thankfully we all made it where we were going safely.
So much to do, so much to do!

Merry Christmas!

ah, the beautiful smell of milk solids in the morning!

So, we enjoyed listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas on the way to Angie's. I took Lucy up to the door, came back to the truck to get Julian and got his baggie and his blanket in my arms. As I reached down to undo his car seat buckle he coughed. The cough choked on some snot in his throat and triggered his ever so responsive gag reflex, causing a small amount of milk solids, maybe about a teaspoon to come out of his mouth and into my hand. I quickly tossed the milk solids to the grass and proceeded to reach for my handkerchief to wipe his little mouth off. I think the smell overcame him at that point and caused him to launch into barf fest 2006. Great globs of milk solids and liquid came spewing out of his mouth, down the inside and outside of his coat, down inside his shirt, all over his lap, all over the arm of my coat, my pants, the back of my truck seat, all in his car seat, on the floor, and in my face. I did my best to scoop up as much milk solid as I could and threw it in Angie's grass as I tried to restrain my swearing. Julian cried as I ran to Angie's door in search for some wet rags and towels to try to clean the poor little guy up a little bit. I washed off my hands, grabbed some rags and headed back out to the truck. Julian was in a fit of tears, shaking from the exertion of throwing up, and shivering from the wind that was blowing on him. I got him out of his seat onto the driveway and unzipped his coat, milk solids falling everywhere, probably over two cups came shaking out of his coat and shirt. I wiped him up the best I could and then carried him up to the door, getting puke all over myself in the process. Angie hurried and whipped his clothes off and threw them in the wash and she went to get more rags to clean him up. I went home, changed my pants and jacket, got Julian clean clothes, his sheep coat, and his toothbrush, and took them back to Angie's. There he was on the couch in black sweats and a black turtleneck borrowed from Emily. He said thanks, daddy, and seemed fine as could be. I told him we will not be having a bottle anymore as he is big now and that's too much milk for his little tummy. He said okay. I was 15 minutes late for work and now I have to stay until 6:00.

Two kids are better than one

I could never have imagined that I could love any other person as much as I love Julian. Then along comes Lucy and somehow my capacity to love is expanded and now I love them both times one million. Julian is still an intense, hard kid, but I love him. Lucy is the opposite in so many ways. She is easy to take care of, easy to entertain, and easy to squeeze. I've never seen such an alert, interactive baby. They are both awesome in their own ways.

Lucy is trying to crawl so hard. She's reached the point of frustration with her inability to move around at will. Any day now!

Julian is talking up a storm. Every day he says something so funny and I always intend to write it down and then forget. Last night he told me. "Merry Christmas, Daddy." Then he told me he needed to tell me a secret, so I leaned in, and he stood on his tippy toes to reach my ear and whispered, "I love you, daddy." My heart melted as I whispered that I loved him too back into his ear. Children are the most perfect thing in life. Innocent, trusting, beautiful reminders of what life is about and why we are here. The joy is indescribable to anyone that is not a parent. To my friends without children...I urge you to join the ranks. It is so great and so worth it.

Nicole is busy getting Christmas cards out and trying to keep her students (and herself) motivated for the last two weeks before christmas. I've been busy putting up christmas lights, keeping the sidewalks clear and just finding time to play with the kids.

We're going to Elko for Christmas this year so we've been busy making preliminary plans for that. We haven't been to Elko since my 10 year reunion a year and a half ago. I look forward to going home. We always have intentions of seeing old friends and stuff, but we're usually doing well to get everyone in the house showered before lunchtime. This will be the first time in two years that we've had the whole family together at once. Since the last time we've added two more babies. Now Shawn and Laura will be having one in February too. The next time we're all together is two years from now...who knows how many more babies there will be by then. The moral of the story is that grandma's house isn't getting any bigger. Soon we'll have to use the church gym just to have dinner.

As I look out my window from my desk at work this morning it is snowing and I'm listening to christmas music. I love christmas time. Merry Christmas to all our beloved family and friends!