DoWnHiLl and Up Again--A Rambl-ey Update

Last I wrote I was getting better--unfortunately my health took a turn for the worse on Thursday and I spent a few very long days hardly able to breathe.

I can't remember a time when I've been more scared. 

I've had asthma all my life--but it only acts up if I get a really bad cold--every other year or so I get one and have a bad week of it--then nothing! I'm fairly certain my primary care doctor was trying to kill me--I've never been so under-treated/poorly-medicated in my life! I am beyond thankful that they got me in to see an Allergist/Asthma specialist or I would have wound up in the hospital this weekend. 

Big. Sad. Face.

=(

I can't describe how impossible it was to breathe and how scared and terrible I felt Thurs/Fri. I'm still not 100% and it's killing me that I probably won't be able to get home for Thanksmas this year. It's my favorite holiday tradition and the girls are SO excited about it.

I can't express how THANKFUL I am that my Mom came down to help me. I wouldn't have been able to make it through without her here--something about having your Mom makes everything better even if everything isn't better! I also had a ton of help from my precious in-laws and am so thankful for them--I am so blessed to have them so close by and SO willing to go above and beyond to help me and care for my family! 

Hopefully each day will bring improvement in how I'm feeling. 

Cause honestly...it's been pretty much the worst. thing. ever. 

For those of you who prayed/are praying for me--I appreciate it more than you know!

It's been another long week here--full of Doctor visits and unanswered questions and allergic reactions and lots of stress for me. 

Boo that.

I woke up this morning starting to feel almost normal-yay! But am still having a lot breathing problems. An x-ray today cleared up a pneumonia scare and I am on a new meds. regimen that will hopefully clear my lungs up and get me back to normal!!!

Normal will be awesome. 

I can't wait!!

Anyways, we've just been laying low--but I did get some pictures of my kiddos this weekend for our Christmas card! =) I love these kids--they are so stinkin' cute and still love their Mama even when she has the 'roid rage.

Window(s) Shopping--Gymboree's New Line = LOVE

what a long week

i'm so sick

of

sick

it's very draining to have the never-ending-coughing and the difficulty-breathing for days on end

i'm worn down and tired and this week ahead is an extremely busy one for my husband

if you think of it, say a prayer for me-

-i'm going to need all of the help i can get!

the longest week there ever was...

i have been sick alllll week

and sicker every day than the day before

and finally sick and tired of being sick and tired so i went to the doctor

the verdict:

bronchitis. 

i usually get sick once a winter and hopefully this is it for me!

so much coughing--my head and my ears and my brain and my throat and my sides and my shoulders and everything hurts from the coughing that never ends

mostly my weak-little-asthma-lungs just get angry and can't calm down and be normal

but now there is lots of medicine and that should help

i haven't slept more than a few hours in days.

my eyeballs hurt.

lucky for me, my darling husband stayed home and helped me as i was helpless.

i kept trying to convince maeve that i was sick and she would say, "well, mama--i don't have the right outfit to be a doctor for you so you're going to have to go find one."

=)

my mother in law brought my favorite dinner tonight and helped put the kids to bed--what a blessing!

i bought a ginormous bag of pixy sticks at CVS when i filled my prescriptions (halloween candy =90% off! woot) and i can't stop eating them. i doubt this is helping me--but after the week i've had it can't be hurting that much. =)

i haven't run since saturday--this is the longest break from running i've had since i started over 6 months ago--i'm worried that it will be hard to start up again--but i really miss it so i will press on.

this was random--i know.

blame it on the meds. =)

good night!

Moody Monday Night

i'm just sitting here...

listening to pandora (christmas music obvi)...

enjoying the quietness of children in bed

and twinkly lights wrapped around the faux wood i found in my basement for my faux fireplace

oh yes, and making a garland for said fireplace...

it's gonna be super cute

unlike the day i had

read: opposite of cute

(i.e. worst day ever)

me = sick, grumpy kids, stupid time change, cough, hack, wah and so on

but right now it's all behind me 
and tomorrow will be a fresh start

I had visions today of taking all three kids somewhere for a photo shoot for our Christmas cards--unfortunately the time change and Ezra's cough had other plans! My little guy was up at 4:30 (yawn) and only ended up taking a very short nap today. He was coughing a bit more so I took him to the doctor--they think he may have a sinus infection so he'll be medicated and hopefully 100% soon!!

I did get to take some pictures of my sweet girls before they headed out the door to church!

Hopefully we all get more sleep tonight! I need it!! Stupid time change. =) Happy Sunday!

The heat is on...

The leaves are changing and falling.

I'm drinking hot chocolate with alarming frequency.

The air is chilly and refreshing...

(happy happy running weather!)

And my new fleece pants arrived from Old Navy: 

(so cozy, so warm)

Happy. =)

Now I want a fleece hoody...

and a flannel shirt

to complete the warm-ness. =)

*****

In other news--Ezra caught a cold a bit over a week ago and the cold has gone, but since he has wheezing issues he has rattly little lungs. 

Poor guy!!

He is playing and happy but has to have breathing treatments a few times a day--he just sits there like a big boy, reading a book and when it's over proclaims, "All done!"

I love him so!

Tonight the clocks fall back--I wonder if the children will be cooperative? We're keeping them up an hour in hopes that we'll get to sleep until a semi-normal time. 

*fingers crossed*

Happy Saturday! =)

We had a peaceful day--Maeve had preschool and Ezra and I just hung out--first we took a nice long walk around town.

1. I love our little town!

2. It was peaceful and lovely--the birds were singing and the leaves were gorgeous!

3. Ezra walks so sweetly--holding my hand and ooooo-ing and ahh-ing over everything he sees.

He was obsessed with his shadow today--I don't think he's ever noticed it before! He kept poking it and laughing. =) Here are our walking shadows!

One of our neighbors has a mini-excavator and that is Ezra's absolute favorite stop. He is in love with trucks and what-not.

We also spent some time outside--raking and playing in the leaves. =)

My husband is super busy this week and for the rest of forever. Boo. I'm so thankful that he is such a hard worker but I miss him and being able to watch his shows etc.

Le sigh.

=)

My Amelie is wow-ing the littles with her Wii skills--time for me to cuddle them on the couch before bed!

Good night! =)

My precious little guy turned two today.

I am still totally in denial and was so busy all day I haven't even had time to think about it.

(until now--SOB!)

He's so wonderful--and gets better every single day--I'm so thankful for my Ezra-boy!!

His little friends and their mamas came over to celebrate the big *2*! 

The boys all played so nicely! It just blessed my heart to see such great little guys playing together--they were so funny--so much happy! Thanks for coming friends--it was perfect!!

Some of the little dudes eating cupcakes/pizza:

PJ + Cupcake = Match Made In Heaven =)

Ezra loved all of his birthday toys sooo much that he just had to sit in the middle of them. =)

I am so thankful for my son! He is just sweetness and joy (mostly =). 

Love. Him.

Happy birthday my darling Ezra! You are my favorite little guy!!

What a longgggg day!

Ezra was up for good at 3:30AM and so was I! Boo! He was actually very happy and played well but I was sooo tired. He took a good mid-day nap but Maeve was up and I was waiting for the electrician to come (no-show, of course) so I didn't get to rest!

Then we had the Halloween frenzy! Gah! I have decided Halloween on a school night is not my favorite! We still had fun with the cousins and the grandparents though! 

Some quick pictures of the kiddos and then I'm going to bed! =)

My Favorite Cupcake Maeve!

My Handsome Monster Who WILL BE TWO TOMORROW!!!

My Beautiful Raggedy Ann-Amelie!

And yes, this *is* the best picture I got of the kids--after tons of candy, and a long day I'll take it. =)

Happy Halloween!

Sunday Seven

1. It is cold and I am not used to it. It was common, in NY, to have very cold weather/snow in October--luckily we've been spared icky October weather while I've lived in NJ. I'm just not equipped to deal with it anymore. =)

2. My littles are completely addicted to Little Einsteins. Have you ever watched it? Super cute--they incorporate classical music and some art history into their program.

3. Can't wait to see my kiddos dressed up tomorrow for Halloween! Hopefully there will be picture-taking-cooperation!!

4. I've been on an organizing spree and I like it. 

5. Ezra has one day left as a 1 year old. *moment of silence*

6. I took a bunch of pictures today and they were all horrible. Boo. 
7. My husband had obligations/work every day (and some nights) this week. I'm trying to focus more on being thankful that he has work than on the fact that I miss him when he's gone. His busy season is just starting--guess I better buck up! 
Happy Sunday!

We woke up to wintry weather this morning! It was sooooo chilly! My poor husband had to supervise students doing outdoor service projects today and he froze. 

At the same time Amelie participated in the school's walk-a-thon and had a wonderful day! 

They walked laps (friends and family pledge money to support them/the school) and then got to celebrate with a fun lunch and outdoor games. 

Maeve had an exciting day too--she got to trick or treat at preschool!

Isn't she the cutest cupcake ever? =)

And since there's never enough Amelie coverage on this blog--a video of her singing The B*I*B*L*E in spanish =)

I have extra layers on tonight--I'm trying to prolong the time until we turn on our heater because it's SOOOOO expensive to even keep our house slightly warm! 

Stupid winter. 

At least it's good baking weather! =)

Happy Friday!

Behold:

We were home all day waiting for a delivery--which, btw, was AWESOME. I got all domestic and made this delicious recipe from my new favorite website: Skinny Taste. I even used ricotta that I made myself (so easy, soooo yummy!!)

Behold: 

Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla Parmigiana

Anyways, that delivery I was talking about? Well, we are enrolled in a program for the state of NJ that helps with energy bills for low-income households. They came through our house and did an energy audit and out of the deal we get much needed insulation, some new windows/door, a new fridge and deep freeze at no cost! The appliances arrived today and the quality was just spectacular! This program has been an amazing blessing and encouragement to us!
Anyways, I can't believe the week is more than half way over! I'm looking forward to Bible study tomorrow and need to get crackin' on another night's homework for it! =)
Happy Wednesday!

We spent a lovely morning with our friends 

(thank goodness because we had a ROUGH night). 

It's another gorgeous fall day--so beautiful outside! Soon we'll have our hands full with raking the 9 billion leaves that fall in our back yard--also, 9 billion is in fact an UNDERSTATEMENT! =)

***

I have been researching cake designs for Ezra's birthday--I think I've settled on a train cake of some sort--here are some finalists:

***

Not much else going on--but you know,

*no news is good news*!

I'm sooooo ready for bed tonight--after hours of children up and around and not sleeping last night we are all weary.

Happy Tuesday!

Yesterday we celebrated Maeve's birthday with family! It was so nice to see everyone--we love them! Before the big party I took the girls to Sweet & Sassy for a fun "makeover." The place is run by a bunch of 12 year olds and took forever to get our appointment started but luckily our stylist was perfect. =) Also, that place makes me feel OLD. 

Anyways, here are the girls after hair, nails, make up! 

Maeve was very excited by her presents, Amelie was very traumatized that the presents weren't for her (even though she DID get two presents--lucky bum!) and Ezra had no idea what was going on. =) Here's a picture of Maeve's requested Ladybug Cake that I made:

 Tickled to have the ladybug to herself--she ate only the eyes and lips =)

 I didn't take enough pictures and the only one I got of Uncle Jon and Danielle they were eating. Sorry! HA! Love you guys!

 Maeve loved her presents!!

 Aunt Micayla, Uncle Ryan, Pop-pop laughing (love!), Granny, and Xander!

 It was lovely and now it's over and I'm starting to accept that I have a 4 year old. =)

After lunch today I told my husband, 

"I just want one picture of all three kids."

So we posed and he chased and we corralled and I got nothin'. (Ezra is anti-picture at the moment). So the next best thing? Throwing them all in swings and telling them to smile. =)

I have a hard time getting pictures of Amelie because A) she's at school all the time B) she doesn't like to pose C)she'll only let me take one or two pictures at a time. Luckily today she let me take a few more. She started out silly:

Goofy:

Then I told her to look at Daddy and think about how much she loves him and she smiled sweetly. =)

And then the best of all:

Love my sweet girl!