Random thoughts and some pictures.....

So, I am fully aware that I have done a bad job at keeping up on my blog. Its hard to be motivated about it when i'm so tired. Its been such a loooooooooooooooooong month. Like I mentioned earlier, we've all been sicker than dogs around here. Its started with me, went to Emma, then to Ethan.....and thats the last that you heard from me. Right after Ethan got better, BriAnn came down with the croup......and she got it bad! Poor girl =O( She had no voice at all, and her cough was horrid. She slept with us (4 people in a bed and being pregnant isn't very fun. lol. ) and she would wake up and would be gasping for air. It broke my heart!! One night after she had an attack, I started crying. It hurt sooo bad to watch her go through that, and I remember thinking that if I could, I would rather go through that in a heartbeat, than to have her have to suffer with it. I felt so helpless. All I could do was give her medicine and lots of extra snuggles and loves. Finally when we were 4 days into it, (on Monday) I took her in, and the doc. gave her some oral steroids. He said, "now this might make her a little cranky." LOL....a little cranky?!?!? That was the biggest understatement EVER!!! Wow, she was beyond cranky. She literally cried all day long for 3 days straight. Just ask Ali, she saw a glimpse of BriAnn's crying. She became really depressed. She would lay on the couch all day and wouldn't want to do anything. She became so tired and just became this totally different little person. It was the longest 3 days of my life. And I felt so bad for her, I know she didn't feel good, but that wore me out really fast. But we pulled through and now she is back to her normal, happy, hyper little self! And luckily Ethan and Emma never caught it! The only thing they came down with was a cold. THANK GOODNESS!!!

SO.....last night I was pondering on life and trials that we go through, and I discovered that I have learned the most from the times that either I, or my kids have been sick. I know sometimes we get sick because we are human, and we all catch colds and whatnot. But I also feel that sometimes we get sick to teach us and others around us a lesson. The 2 main things that I have learned in the past month is 1) PATIENCE and compassion!! Holy cow! Kids in general test your patience, but then throw in SICK kids....oh wait....THREE sick kids, and your patience is really tested to the max. I watched Evan Almighty last night with Eran (well, actually, he fell asleep. He never stays awake during movies), but one of the quotes that I so loved in that movie was, "When someone prays for patience, does God give them patience, or does he give them the opportunity to BE patient." And that really struck me. Most nights I go to bed feeling like I have failed as a mother, and I pray every night for the patience needed to care for my kids the next day. But I realized that its just not going to be given to me...it is something that I have to learn. And my kids give me the opportunity every day to learn and to practice that patience!

The 2nd thing that I learned, or came to appreciate I guess, is the times that we are all healthy, of course. But I came to really appreciate my children's little personalities. As mentioned before, Baba's (BriAnn) was so not herself, at all, when she was on those dang steroids. She wouldn't dance and sing, or play with Emma. She didn't want to eat or go outside. Emma was also a different person without her BriAnn to play with. And once she was off of her medicine, she started coming around again. And now I am just sooooooooo grateful for the quirky little things that she does. For her singing and constant dancing. For her and Emma chasing each other around and laughing until their tummies hurt. For her constant jabbering which has become so cute and funny. I wouldn't want her to be any other way! I am so grateful that she is better, and I am so grateful for the things that I learned and have come to appreciate from all of us being sick. As crappy as it was....I am grateful for it.

Now that I have jabbered on forever and ever....here are some pictures. Thank you for reading through all of this! Sorry this post was really long.

This was on one of the warm days we had. Spring can't make up its mind. We will have a few days of amazing weather, and then it gets flippin' freezing again!

The girls found this huge poster board and had a blast coloring on it. I guess this is one way to color when your sick......

Lol....she was trying to trace her foot in this picture.....

Ethan makes the cutest little squished up face when he see's me! He is such a darling little boy!

And don't you just love those toothless grins?

Here is Emma trying to make the same face....

And this is her fishy face....

We were bored one evening, and the kids needed to let out some energy before they hit the sack. So I let them jump off of the couch. Its probably not the safest thing in the world, huh?

This picture CRACKED ME UP!!!! She was trying to "squish the butterfly". I think she accomplished that goal pretty well. And no worries, BriAnn wasn't laying there crying when I took this picture. She was cracking up about it!

So remember a few posts ago, I mentioned how I was ambitious and let them color with finger paints. This is how messy it got. And I knew it would get that way too.....thats why I said I was ambitious about it. Just look at that....she covered every inch on her arm with paint!!

Look at that sweet smile! Now how can you say no to finger paints with that face!!